Writer of Destiny
by Aria6
Summary: A young girl on a dying world has the power to rewrite events, and isn't aware of it yet. She starts with Axel, but it won't end there... please read and review!
1. Chapter 1

Warning: I've never played Kingdom Hearts although I've read the wiki and watched the cut scenes. I became interested when I was watching AMV's on youtube. This is set after Kingdom Hearts 2. Enjoy!

_Perhaps you have heard that the pen is mightier than the sword?_

_It is a horrible cliché. If you are confronted with a sword, it is also quite untrue. However, it does convey the concept that a sword is an immediate instrument while a story can travel all over the world. A story can have an immense impact on the world._

_Now imagine, if you would, a Writer of Destiny. They are exceedingly rare, which is a very good thing. Most stories influence our minds. For a Writer of Destiny, stories influence reality directly. The pen is indeed mightier than the sword._

"_How can this be?" You might ask. No one knows how this power is granted. It has gone to both kind and cruel hearts._

"_How does this work?" You might also ask. Writers of Destiny write the past, present and future. "Write the past?" You might say. "But anyone can do that." Yes and no. When a Writer of Destiny writes of the past, it is events he or she could not have known… yet they are recalled perfectly. Some have speculated that with a flick of the wrist, a Writer of Destiny could rewrite the past. But because you would change along with your past, you would never know the difference. Frightening, no?_

_When a Writer of Destiny writes of the future, your feet are placed upon their path. The only way to avoid your part of the story is to convince them to change it. Of course, to do that you must be aware that the story has been written. That is the greatest surprise about Writers of Destiny… most live and die as normal men and women, completely unaware of their great power._

"_How can that be?" You ask. "How could they not notice that their stories come true?" Simple. If you have ever written, ask yourself. Do you write about people you know? Of course not! They would be likely to take offense. Even if they did not, trying to portray them accurately would be nerve wracking and not particularly fun. We writers prefer our own character, or characters taken from fiction that we can interpret our own way._

_Writers of Destiny typically write about people and events occurring in other worlds. It is difficult to travel between worlds, so they can go about completely unaware of their amazing power. The stories they write are always engaging and well-written, so many Writers of Destiny make their living as authors. And if travelers from another dimension encounter one of their stories, they usually assume anything they recognize is coincidence._

_But sometimes, a Writer of Destiny is recognized. This usually ends most tragically, as others seek to make use of them or the Writer herself is warped by the power she or he holds._

_This is the story of such a Writer. And, alas, I cannot guarantee that it will have a happy ending. For this is real life, and some things are beyond even a Writer of Destiny's power._

_Even for them, happily ever after is only a phrase._

* * *

She sighed, her breath puffing out in the cold air. It was winter in Kingdom of Lost Hope. Also known as the Land of Suffering, to those with an even greater urge towards self-pity than usual.

Stories said something had gone wrong, in the far off past. There were a dozen stories about what that something might have been, but the only connecting factor was that the king and all his children had been killed in a single day. The why's and how's varied widely. And without the king, the land had sickened. No one liked to admit it, but it seemed indisputable… the welfare of the land was tied to the king's heart. And now the land was heartless.

Not literally, of course. There were very few actual Heartless in the Kingdom. A few. Also a few Nobodies… usually created by the Heartless. But neither lasted long in the frozen wastes. They fell quickly to the Kings Lancers.

But that hardly mattered. Rubbing her hands together briefly to warm them, she picked up the piece of cloth she had been embroidering. She was picking out the design of a basket of fruit. She couldn't remember the last time she had seen any fruit but apples. All the pear trees had died of grey blight, and oranges never came from the South anymore. She wondered sometimes if something had happened to them too. The king had ruled the cold Northlands and the hot Southlands, so it was to be expected that misfortunes were happening to the Southerns too. But direct contact had ended centuries ago, and no one knew why. No one really cared to know why. No one had any care to spare for anyone but friends and family. And sometimes not even that.

She glanced up as a man walked into the room. He was only perhaps a handful of years older than her twenty summers, but he seemed much older. Care lines had been carved deeply on his face, and his brown hair was already thinning. But he smiled at her… then frowned at what she held in her hands.

"Amberglas. Weren't you going to write?" He asked, concerned. He knew writing to be her greatest joy and certainly something she had planned to do today. She sighed, looking down at the embroidery in her hands.

"I can't write today." She replied quietly, her pin rising and falling, another tiny section of the design filling out. "My heart is too sad. The story will be sad too, and we don't need a sad story…"

"Why are you sad?" He put an arm around her shoulders, and she took a deep breath, staring out the window for a moment to compose herself. "What's wrong, kitten?"

"I met with Celune this morning." She said evenly, and then bit her lip for a moment. "She doesn't want to be my friend anymore." Her needle stabbed her finger, and she winced, blotting it on her coat so the blood didn't stain the cloth.

"Surely she didn't say it like that?" He asked, taken aback.

"No." Amberglas replied, her tone one of resignation. "She said she doesn't want to go snow-shoeing anymore, or talk about stories, recipes or boys. She said that she's never discussed priestess things with me because they would bore me, and trader things bore her. So we could still meet sometimes and talk about something else." She placed another stitch, then stopped. Her hand was shaking too much. "I think that leaves the weather as a topic for discussion." He was silent for a moment, and she felt bad for him. "I'm sorry, Frossan. There's nothing you can do."

"It can be hard, sometimes, when friends pull apart." He offered, and she said nothing. "But… perhaps you should write the story anyway. Suffering is part of the world, and you can always give it a happy ending."

"Maybe I will." She replied, more to get rid of him than out of any real agreement. But after he was gone, she started to think about it.

Finally she walked over to her desk and picked up her pencil. Perhaps Frossan was right, and a sad story would be fine as long as she gave it a happy ending. She could always add one on when she was feeling better. It amazed her, sometimes, that when food was dear and fuel dearer, people would still spend a penny for one of her stories in print. But she had been told many times that the stories gave people hope. Hope that there was still something better out there, somewhere…

Carefully filling her pen with ink, she looked at the little chalk board she kept by her desk. Chalked onto it were dozens of names. Who should she write about today?

She had written about Sora and Roxas many times. The stories of how he saved worlds with Daffy and Goofy were always fun… but they didn't suit her mood. Nothing did, except… her gaze settled on another name. Axel.

Her hand started moving as the plot formed in her mind.

When she was done, a tear slid down her cheek. And another. She had written the story of a friendship and its death. A death more final than she wanted.

_Axel gave his life for Sora… for Roxas…he did all of this to see him again… it's so sad! No, he can't die yet. There needs to be a happy ending. _Her hand shaking, she lifted the pen again and began a new chapter.

_But Axel did not die then, not really. He was cast into the darkness, alone and drifting, until he washed up onto a distant shore. Pulling himself up, coughing and gasping, he found himself standing before a beachfront villa. It belonged to the Queen of Hearts. She was not a nice person… no, not nice at all. But she held the one thing Axel desired the most, although she would only give it to him for a price._

_A heart._

* * *

_Now, you may ask… "Did Amberglas create the Queen of Hearts, or did she always exist? Has she always had hearts she could give to others? Is she really not nice, or did Amberglas just define her that way?"_

_I can assure you, from my perspective, that the Queen of Hearts has always existed. She has always had hearts, and she has always been not nice. In fact, that's quite understating the case…_

_But that's a story for another time._


	2. The Queen of Hearts

Freezing cold seawater spit out the black clad figure as though offended by his presence. Axel lay still for a time on the beach, facedown, as the water lapped at his ankles. The shore crabs quickly decided to make use of this new thing in their environment, trying to find convenient openings in his robes.

"OW!" Axel jerked up, coughing and sputtering, as a crab clamped down hard on his ear. "What the…" Standing in a wobbly motion, he started to pry away the clinging crabs, and shook his head. "What happened… I was dying…" But thoughts of death were temporarily overridden by more pressing concerns as his large green eyes went wide. "OWOWOWOW!" A frantic dance later, and the one crab that had made it into his clothing was removed. "Okay, that was grounds for mass crabicide." An explosion of fire turned several crabs into charcoal, and the rest retreated to a safe distance. "That got your attention crab legs?" Axel shook his head, one hand going to his forehead. "I can't believe this. What happened?"

He remembered dying. That was quite clear. Then a long path of darkness, confusion and pain. Axel shivered, looking around.

He was standing on a dark beach. Black water lapped at the edge of it, and seaweed was everywhere, imparting a rank smell. A house lay in front of him… it should have been a cute little cottage of stone and wood, with a deck built on, but something about it was creepy. Axel stared at it a long moment, and finally decided it was the vines. They were glistening… and seemed to be moving. He squinted hard at them, but wasn't sure if it was a trick of the light or not. And he wasn't sure he wanted to get close enough to find out.

"Okay," He said, reasoning out loud. "Either I'm dead and this is the afterlife, or I'm alive." He kicked away a crab that had missed the initial char-broil. "If this is the afterlife, it really sucks. And I still feel like a Nobody. Pretty sure that's not how the afterlife is supposed to be. So I must be alive." Axel stared at the house again. "And conveniently in front of an ominous building. Why do I feel like my life is being scripted?" Axel rubbed his head.

_Amberglas laughed a little at her cleverness with that last line. Axel was such a fun character to write dialogue for!_

"Hmm…" Axel glanced around again, considering his options. It looked like he was on a small island. As far as he could see, this was the only sign of shelter and perhaps food… unless he enjoyed crab legs. "Eh. Like I'm scared of a house. Time to see what's inside." Ready for anything, he walked up to the door and-

It opened just as he was going to kick it down. Losing his balance, he just managed to grab the doorframe before he fell on his face.

"Haven't you ever heard it's rude to damage other people's property?" An old, female voice demanded. She was standing in the shadows and he couldn't make her out at all, but Axel recovered from his surprise easily.

"Well, I'm kinda a rude person, don't you know? Name's Axel. Got it memorized?" Axel demanded, touching his forehead. Then he suddenly recoiled as a face thrust itself out of the darkness at him. She looked like she'd been run over by the ugly bus, hit by the ugly train then beaten with the ugly stick for good measure. He'd seen a lot of strange things working for Organization 13, but this was easily taking the cake.

"Name's the Queen of Hearts. Got it memorized?" She snorted, spewing phlegm all over the floor. Axel actually took a step back. "Well, going to stand on the doorstep all day, or did you want to come in and talk about your problem?"

"What problem would that be?" He asked warily, and she leered at him. He took another step back, tempted to call in his weapons.

"You're a Nobody and I'm the Queen of Hearts. Should be obvious, shouldn't it? Or do you want to be a Nobody forever?" Axel stared at her, his revulsion forgotten as his eyes widened in shock.

"Are you offering me a _heart?_" He asked in disbelief. That should have been impossible. Not even Xemnas had managed anything like it, although he had been trying. But she only grinned at his tone.

"For a price, child, for a price. Come inside and we'll discuss it." She opened the door wide for him, and Axel stepped inside. He had a feeling he would regret it. But how could he pass on the chance to be… real?

* * *

Amberglas lay down her pen with a sigh, and went to fetch her gloves and a basket. It was time to go down to the market and see what was available for supper. There was usually venison meat and bread, and they had plenty of canned vegetables stored. The bread would cost them dearly though. It always did.

When Frossan came home, it was to a piping hot venison stew with heavy rye bread. They sat down at the table, and he said the prayer to the Lost King. Then they began to eat.

"I'm sorry about the bread," Amberglas said once the edge had been taken off her hunger. "The lady selling said she didn't have any molasses for the brown." Rye had been all that was available, which was a little troubling. That had never run out before.

"It's a hard winter," Frossan observed, to which she could only nod. "Things have been going well at the glassblowers though. The apothecary is selling lots of cordials, and needs bottles for them. He grows his own herbs too, so he won't be running out. Although there was an accident…" Amberglas listened with a gentle smile as Frossan told her about his day. She had worked at the glassworks too, for a while, so she understood. "And what have you been working on? A new story?" Her smile turned animated, and Frossan smiled back.

"A really good one! But I don't want to share it until it's done. It's going to have a tricky ending. I want you to enjoy all of it." When he read her works halfway through, it seemed to spoil it somehow. He laughed good-naturedly.

"Oh, alright cousin, if you insist." He pushed his chair away from the table, taking his empty bowl and spoon to the sink for a rinse. "But hurry up and finish. I could use something to lighten my heart."

"I'll get back to work as soon as I'm done," she promised with a smile, and applied herself to her food.

There was plenty of story left to write, and one plot twist she wanted to get done before she went to bed.

* * *

Axel glanced around warily, and was relieved to see that the from the inside the house was perfectly normal and immaculately tidy. She brought him to a sitting room with plush but low slung chairs. Axel plopped down in one unceremoniously, stretching out his legs.

"Would you like some tea? Coffee?" The Queen asked politely. Axel blinked.

"Uh… coffee, please." The situation was getting more surreal by the moment, but it seemed easier to go with it. He sipped the mug of steaming coffee carefully. "So what's this about a heart?"

"All business, eh? Well, why not. Not like my company is that sought after." She commented, sipping her tea. "I can give you a heart, and meld it to your body. A long time ago I took out my own heart and became a Nobody. Why doesn't concern you. I used my witchcraft to store it in a bottle. For a long time, I couldn't figure out how to get it back in, but I finally did. It was hell, but it gave me an insight into how to trap and move around hearts, and how to put them into other bodies." Axel listened, almost wishing Xemnas was here. He would have killed to understand how she did such things, if she was indeed telling the truth. "Of course, it's not perfect. The heart contains the personality and memories, so the one I would give you would affect you quite a bit. However… since the merger would be artificial, your Nobody persona would have more of an edge. But you'd be more vulnerable to coming apart later. Got it memorized?" She asked sardonically, and Axel glared, but nodded.

"I get it. But it sounds better than vanishing." He wasn't quite ready to take on a strangers heart if it meant Axel would cease to exist. He liked existing, even if it felt very empty a lot of the time. "What's the price?"

"Oh, that's simple." She smiled, and leaned forward, dark eyes fixing on green ones. "Bring me the Writer of Destiny."

_Amberglas yawned, and set her pencil down. She was tired, and it was time for bed._


	3. A New Heart

_One thing to remember about a Writer of Destiny is that he or she is writing a story. Not everything we do is interesting, and often portraying everything would ruin the dramatic effect. So many parts are left out._

_Those parts of the story that go unwritten can contain anything._

* * *

"The Writer of Destiny? Who or what is that?" Axel was unimpressed by the name. It sounded like a glorified librarian. The Queen of Hearts chuckled softly.

"The Writer is powerful. That is all you need to know." She sipped her tea for a moment, thinking. "But you need to know how to find her… or him. You will have to search many worlds and look for stories. Stories that have been written recently but that are about true events the author should not know about."

"Jeez." Axel mumbled, looking down. "That's like looking for a needle in a haystack. How will I know the stories are true?" The Queen shrugged.

"You've been to plenty of worlds, haven't you? Or maybe you have a friend who has?" Axel was about to make a sharp retort, but paused, the words dying on his tongue. He did have a friend who had been to many worlds. If Sora would help…

"Yeah, and I think he owes me one." Axel came to his decision quickly. "Okay, I'm ready. Give me this heart."

"Not so fast." The Queen set down her cup of tea, then stood with a grunt. "You need exactly the right heart. Come to my work room and I'll find one for you."

She led him to the back of the house, and opened the door to what should have been a small room. It wasn't. Axel stared upwards. The walls were covered in shelves. Each slot contained a bottle holding a heart. And they seemed to stretch upwards into infinity… there was no ceiling to this room.

"How many are there?" He didn't realize he had spoken out loud until the Queen answered.

"Thousands. I capture them at the moment of death, so there's always plenty. Now…" Axel recoiled as she suddenly gripped his collar and sniffed him. "Hold still!" Skin crawling, he held still as she snuffled his skin. When she let him go, he shuddered with relief and wiped away an errant trail of snot. "Hm…. Lets see…" She waved a hand and bottles shot off the walls. She unstoppered them and sniffed at the contents. Some she rejected immediately, but many more she placed on the table. Soon there was a tidy pile of bottles. Axel looked at the hearts curiously, but they all looked the same to him.

It took some more sorting and several more sniffings before the Queen of Hearts was satisfied. She finally narrowed the selection down to three bottles, neatly lined up on the table.

"You'll have to pick now." She gestured, and the bottles melted away. But the hearts stayed put, held by some invisible power. "Touch them, sniff them, and figure out which one feels best." Axel hesitated for a moment and then cautiously extended a hand. "And take that glove off. I shouldn't even have to tell you that!" Axel frowned, but removed his glove. He was beginning to get a feel for how she did things.

_This is all instinctive to her. She does everything by feel… and that probably works well with hearts. Woah!_ Axel gripped the table hard with his other hand, as he trailed his fingers over one of the hearts.

The emotions that suddenly assaulted him were almost overwhelming. Rage and sorrow and fear… but also joy, affection and something he could only define as freedom. It was a wild feeling and he was suddenly breathing faster. This heart was full of sharp edges, but it was beautiful. Was this the heart he wanted?

"Touch the other ones." The Queen of Hearts voice cut through the intense sensations, and he reluctantly pulled his hand away from the heart. Cautiously, he touched the next heart.

Compared to his first experience, it was disappointing. This was a warm, gentle heart and while it gave him a feeling of peace the feelings were… muted. The sorrow was not as deep, but neither was the joy.

The last heart on the table was interesting. He gasped as he ran his fingers over it, trying to sort through the sensations. There was darkness there, a teasing sense of wildness and anger. This wasn't a heart that cared overmuch about other hearts… Axel hesitated. He liked the feel of it, but had a feeling it would turn most people off. And he had lived in darkness for so long. Did he want to again?

For a long time, he thought about which heart he wanted. The first heart felt friendly and lively, the second felt kind and the third felt dark. He quickly ruled out the second. He wanted something close to the 'personality' he had made for himself as a Nobody, and that just wasn't warm fuzzies.

That left the first and the third. He touched them both, imagining the kind of life he wanted to lead… and finally tapped the first.

"This one." He looked up at the Queen of Hearts, meeting her dark eyes. They were expressionless, fathomless, deep and dark as the sea.

"An interesting choice." Before he could ask what she meant, she ordered, "Pick up the heart and place it against your chest."

"Hey, I wanted to ask." Axel said, feeling the need for a brief distraction. "Are you related to the Queen of Hearts from Wonderland?" The witch rolled her eyes.

"No. It's just what I'm calling myself at the moment. Now put the heart against your chest." Unable to delay the moment of truth any longer, Axel slowly drew up the heart and placed it against his chest.

And gasped in pain as the sharp edges of the heart sliced easily through his cloak, and blood spilled onto the table.

_I thought this would be metaphorical!_ He tried to pull it away, but it was too late. The heart pulsed wildly and a dark, violent power slammed into him, forcing them together. More blood spilled and Axel gasped, his thoughts whirling as emotions slammed into him like a runaway train… and images…

_Dark stairs dark night darkness everywhere run little boy HA you won't get me Mother? No mother no sister won't get me hahaahaa Twisted roses balcony JUMP –_

Stone bricks rushed up at him, and he thankfully lost consciousness.

Unfortunately, that didn't last long. He groaned, opening his eyes as something sharp prodded his side. The sight that greeted him was a puddle of vomit, inches from his face. He'd come quite close to face planting into it. Shuddering, Axel pulled himself into a sitting position against the wall behind him. The jars of hearts shook as he thumped back… he felt as weak as a kitten, tired, sick and hungry, all at once. Something slapped onto his leg, and he looked down blankly at a ratty old towel.

"Well?" The Queen demanded nastily as he turned his gaze towards her. She pointed at the puddle on the floor. "I'm not cleaning that up. Get to it." Completely beyond speech, he crawled over to the stain and obeyed. Then he stared at the stained cloth. "Just throw it out." She pointed to a garbage can across the room. Axel stared at it pathetically. At the moment, walking across the room seemed an impossible task. "Oh, give it here." She picked it up by two fingers, sniffing, and dumped it into the trash. "You actually took that rather well." She admitted grudgingly. "I peed my pants the time I did it."

"Oh." Axl said faintly, then shuddered. "That… was… awful…" His chest was still on fire and his limbs felt so wobbly that he didn't want to try to stand. But… he couldn't just stay on the floor. Gripping the shelving and thanking the gods that it felt stable, he managed to pull himself to his feet. His legs trembled wildly, but he clamped tight and held on as the room blurred for a moment. "I need… to sleep." His body was screaming for sleep. Unfortunately, it was also screaming for several other things but sleep was about all he felt he could manage at the moment.

"You need to eat too." She commented. "Come along." Suddenly, she was beside him, a strong arm around his waist and a hand pressed against his lower chest, below the fresh wounds. He clung to her, pathetically grateful for the support as she helped him out of the room. Fortunately, there was a bedroom right beside the work room. He fumbled, trying to pull off the bloody cloak, and she finally sighed in exasperation and helped. As soon as it was gone, he flopped into the bed, unable to find even the strength to pull up the covers.

Sleep was as irresistible as an avalanche and deeper than the sea.


	4. The Kings Lancers

Amberglas frowned up at the sun. It was past midwinter… the days should have been getting longer as the land prepared for spring. But the days didn't seem to be getting longer.

_I'm imagining things._ She shook her head for a moment, pushing aside the horrible thought of a winter that never ended. The Northlands had always been as chill as the Southlands were warm, but that would be taking it way too far.

"Now bring those back in good condition." The snow-shoe renter warned her. She suppressed a sigh. He always said the same thing, every day.

"Yes sir." She replied dutifully, because if she only nodded, he would repeat his question louder until she finally did reply. _I'm twenty. I'm an adult. Why aren't I ever treated like one?_

Grunting, she levered herself to her feet and began the trek into the Forest of Sorrow. She winced as the wind bit at her skin, and wrapped her scarf more firmly over her face. The crystal ball forecasts had said the day would be cold but clear and perfectly safe for travel. She wouldn't have trusted the weather-wizards for a long term forecast, but for same day they were usually pretty accurate.

The Forest of Sorrow, she knew, had once been called something else before the disaster. The Royal Castle lay in the centre of the forest and she had been told there had once been a road that led to it. If so, it had long since become overgrown. And no one would bother going there in any case. The Castle had been completely sealed long ago and was defended by the King's Lancers and Footmen. Empty armor that had been animated by some long forgotten spell or, some said, by knights who had sworn to defend the kingdom past death. They also patrolled the woods heavily which made her trip relatively safe.

Only relatively. Not even the King's Lancers could be everywhere, and misfortune stalked the land. Amberglas sighed to herself, missing Celune already even though she had just barely begun. By now they would have been talking about the fish they could catch, the precious goldfish and prized ironfish and how much money they could make-

"Amberglas! Wait!" She paused, shocked at the rough edged female voice and craned her body around to look. Turning around in snow-shoes was generally more trouble than it was worth. The pudgy figure behind her was panting as she struggled to run on snow-shoes.

"Mathira! Take it slowly!" She called back, alarmed as she saw the shoes overlap. The other woman slowed her pace a bit and avoided the fall. "What are you doing here? I thought you were busy with your sisters' baby and the store." Mathira stopped in front of her, and there was a moment of silence. Amberglas could see little of her friend under the heavy furs, scarf and winter glasses, but she could see a tuft of strawberry blond hair poking out defiantly.

They had once been close friends too, but events had intervened. It hadn't bothered Amberglas much… a younger sibling was always expected to help with a baby and a store, and those were heavy burdens indeed. She had gone over sometimes to help with the store herself, but Mathira had never had time to reciprocate. They hadn't gone snow-shoeing together for at least half a year.

"Sabira lost the baby to the winter flux and mother got fired from the store." Mathira's reply was short and to the point. Amberglas gasped, a hand flying to her mouth.

"Oh, Mathira, I… I'm sorry. I hadn't heard." That felt terribly inadequate, but what else could she say? "How… why was your mother fired?" Fall babies often died to the winter flux, so no explanation was needed for that. That was why the apothecary sold so many cordials, but they only worked perhaps half the time. Mathira grimaced, although it was hard to make out the movement under the scarf.

"Oh… Royask married Dalglas. You know, that blond seamstress. She convinced him she could do the general manager work and they could save mother's pay." Her tone turned withering. "She'll fail miserably, of course. But they can't take mother back without admitting their wrong." Amberglas winced sympathetically. She knew Royask and knew there was no chance of that. "Anyway. Between that and the baby, I need to get out. I know it's the Kingdom of Lost Hope but I'm trying to keep what I've got. And besides." She lifted her chin. "We can use the money. Do you mind if I come?"

"Not at all." Amberglas said warmly. It would have been rank churlishness to turn her friend away. "I have extra bait, and I see you have a pole." It was slung over Mathira's back. "We should catch twice the fish I usually do." That was an exaggeration. Since they would be using ice holes right beside each other, they might catch a bit more, but not that much. Still, she didn't need the extra money as much as Mathira did.

"Thanks Amberglas." Mathira replied as they started walking. "I'm sorry I haven't been by to see you more."

"It's no worry," Amberglas replied, adjusting the box and pole she had slung over her back. The box had a very thick strap to distribute weight… it was light at the moment but wouldn't be later, if they caught enough fish. "You were busy." And busyness, she reflected, was much easier to bear than simply not wanting to talk about any shared interests anymore.

"Still… anyway. Have you seen that new boy working at the smithy? He's a bit of a hot bun." Amberglas laughed, and they chatted amiably as they slowly made their way to the lake. They could have traveled faster if they had concentrated on just walking, but where would have been the fun in that?

"Gads, I'm out of shape," Mathira remarked as the trees parted, and the lake finally came into sight. "Felt like that took forever. I'm really feeling it in my legs."

"Me too," Amberglas said, mostly for her friends benefit. She'd been coming out every week for months and didn't really feel much of anything. "But we're almost there. There's the ice fishing shack up ahead." Her shack had a yellow stripe painted on it. Every year in the fall, when the ice was thick enough, the city hired several strapping young men to pull all the shacks onto the lake. When they weather witches finally said spring was coming and the ice would be becoming unsafe, they brought them back in again. Every shack owner paid a couple coppers for the service and Amberglas considered it money well spent.

She was relieved to see that the ice hole she had augured and chipped out last time was still partly open. The top had frozen over, of course, but the ice there was nowhere as thick as it had been when she had first opened it. Opening the box, she pulled out the ice auger and chisel and began the tedious work of fully reopening it again. She used the auger, turning and turning it so the blades bit into the ice and Mathira used the chisel. She glanced over at her friend and was pleased to see that she had the strap firmly fastened around her wrist. If you forgot that, as soon as the chisel broke the ice it would likely slip from your hand and head for the bottom of the lake. That would be a disaster. Ice chisels were expensive.

Soon enough they had the hole reopened and paused, filling their canteens and taking small drinks. They were thirsty but the water was too cold for anything more. Pulling up their stools… those went with the shack… they baited their lines and began to fish.

Patience is the one great virtue of any fisherman, but ice fishermen need it even more than most. The girls filled the waiting with talk, and Amberglas was gladder than ever that Mathira was there. Left by herself she would have had nothing to do but brood and plan her stories, and you could only plan a story for so many hours of a day.

"I was wondering. Would you like to go to the tavern with me and Kista and Greaglas?" Mathira asked casually. Amberglas suppressed a wince. She couldn't stand alcohol and her last experience in a tavern had been anything but positive.

"I think I'll pass. I have a lot of work to do." She said lightly, but Mathira snorted and nudged her foot with her own heavy boot.

"You need to get out of yourself more. No one knows what you're thinking, and you work at home so you don't even have work friends. Everyone goes to the tavern after work. Come on, meet people and make new friends." It was on the tip of her tongue to refuse, but the words died as she looked into the water.

_Was I asking too much of Celune?_ She suddenly wondered. _It was just the two of us, we went places at least twice a week. But she had priestess friends too. I only had her._ That thought had a bitter taste of truth to it.

"I'll come. Tomorrow?" Her line suddenly pulled. "Oh!" Conversation temporarily forgotten, she reeled in the line. The fish that was raised out of the lake glittered like molten gold even in the dim light of the shed.

"A goldfish! It's a good omen." Mathira said approvingly. "Yes, tomorrow would be great… here's the jaw prier." She passed over a small tool, and Amberglas smiled as she wedged open the fishes' jaw to retrieve her hook.

It was a good omen.

Hours later, they were trudging back to town. The wind was picking up again, and Amberglas groaned faintly as the straps of the box bit into her shoulders. Their fishing had been more successful than she had imagined… fully twenty fish, and half of them goldfish and ironfish. Their efforts would be worth a nice penny at market but for now carrying them was a pure pain.

"Here, let me handle that for a bit." Mathira took the box, to her relief. They had been trading it off frequently to help ease the other.

"Thank you. It was-" Amberglas froze as she noticed something. "Mathira. Don't move."

"What? Why? What's…" She fell silent as a wolf slowly paced out from between the trees.

It wasn't a healthy wolf. The coat that should have been thick and heavy with winter growth was full of mange and balding. The eyes that glared at them were yellow as urine, and the frothing at the mouth was highly disturbing. So was the uncoordinated way it was moving towards them.

_Rabid. It's rabid._ Fear clogging her throat, Amberglas bent down slowly and started untying her snow shoes. She wouldn't run well without them but she certainly wasn't going to make it with them. Mathira followed suit, dropping the box and untying her feet.

"Move back slowly. It's confused, maybe it won't attack." Amberglas said as calmly as she could manage, and her friend nodded, the motion tight with fear. She watched the wolf as they both backed away… and saw a sudden shift from confusion to rage. "RUN!" They both turned and ran for their lives as the wolf howled.

Then Mathira screamed, and Amberglas had to stop and look back. Her friend was on the ground, her hands over her head as the wolf worried at her clothing. Fortunately, in its confusion, it was more pulling her around than anything… but that couldn't last.

"Mathira!" She couldn't just leave her behind, and Amberglas started back although she had no idea what she could do to help. There was a sudden crack of tree limbs breaking and she looked sharply to the right and gasped as a knight rode out of the trees. His horse should have been mired in the snow, but instead it seemed to float on top… and it wasn't a horse. It was the horse armor that belonged on a horse, but empty of any actual animal. Blue lights glowed out from under the blackness of the helm, the eyes of a being that was not at all human.

_A King's Lancer!_ Amberglas stood, stunned, as the Lancer lowered his lance and charged. The wolf didn't even notice until the lance impaled him from the side, and the animal's shriek was spine-curdling. The Lancer lifted the beast into the air as if it weighed nothing, writhing on the tip of his lance and then tossed it to the side. Blood sprayed across the snow, and Amberglas blinked, recalling herself. She ran over to Mathira, who was beginning to sit up.

"Mathira! Are you alright?" She started searching her friend frantically. If the wolf had drawn any blood, she would be dead in a month or two at the most.

"I'm fine." She sounded terribly relieved. "He just tore up my coat." Her coat was shredded on the back. That would be expensive to repair, but nothing compared to her life. "Uh… Amberglas." Amberglas blinked, and then turned to look behind her. The Lancer was still there and had been joined by two more lancers. One had red eyes, one had green, and they all hand different colored plumes in their helms. Also… she squinted. The armor was subtly different and the shields had different enamel work. It made them quite individual, really.

"Thank you ever so much. You saved our lives." She said to the green eyed Lancer, feeling a touch unnerved as all three stared at her. "Uh… is there anything we can do to help you?" She offered. It felt inadequate… what could she offer disembodied armor…? But it was all she could do.

"Yes." Before she could react to that hollow voiced answer, a cold, hard, yet oddly gentle hand seized her arm and hoisted her onto the horse. "Come." Terrified, she gripped the horse armor tightly as the Lancer began to ride. She heard Mathira yelp behind her as one of the other Lancers hoisted her up, and noted with disbelief that the third was gathering their snow shoes and the fish box.

Then all she could do was hold on as the speed increased. The trees seemed to part for them as they flew by on invisible hooves…

_We're going further into the forest? Why?_ She thought in confusion, then stared in awe as the forest suddenly parted completely. In the middle of a clearing larger than her town was that thing she had only heard of as a child… the King's Palace. _It's so beautiful._ Unimaginably large, the pale grey stone reached to the sky. Towers so light and elegant it seemed they would fall at the slightest wind, winding staircases… even pathways between towers made of stone! She couldn't imagine how it could exist. It had be magic. And the windows… there were windows everywhere of stained glass. But they were all covered in ice, and she couldn't see inside.

Another Lancer paced towards them, and she swallowed hard as he seemed to look at her intently. His eyes glowed a brilliant white, and his armor was decorated more than any other Lancer she had seen. It was silver and gold, and so was the shield he bore. The plume in helmet was a white as pure as the snow, and it bobbed as he tilted his head to one side, seeming to eye her quizzically.

"Hello, writer." He finally said, and she blinked. His voice was that of a very masculine, vigorous ghost. "Welcome to the Castle of Lost Dreams." She mentally noted the name. She hadn't heard that the castle actually had a name before.

"Erm, hello." Amberglas replied weakly, a little overwhelmed. She had never heard a Lancer speak before. "I… Is there something I can do for you?" He suddenly laughed, and Mathira shivered at the sound. It was warm, humorous and… hollow. The ghostly edge to his voice only made the other qualities stranger.

"Yes, little writer. Write us into your story." He edged his horse closer to her and leaned forward. Amberglas was almost mesmerized by the white light of his eyes. "It's very depressing sometimes, doing what we must, and we need a story too. Do it for me?"

"Of course," She found herself replying. "I'll write you into the story I'm working on right now." And now that he had asked, she knew exactly how she could do it. It would work out very well, a wonderful plot to the story…

"Thank you. That is all we ask." He waved at the others. "They will take you back to the snow shoer. No need for you to walk all the way back." The Lancers carrying them saluted and began to back away.

"Wait!" She called, and the Lancers paused. "Who are you? What's your name?" It had never occurred to her that Lancers would have names before, but now that she had heard one speak she knew they must. He laughed again and then called back.

"I'm the Captain of the Lancers. Good luck, little writer." And then the Lancers were moving again…

* * *

The Captain of the Lancers watched until the two girls were safely gone, a Footman standing by his side. His Squire, back when such titles had mattered.

"She has no idea, does she?" The Footman commented, and the Captain nodded slowly.

"None. But it's better this way. She has a kind heart, and if she knew she wouldn't be able to do what is needed." He started walking away, and the Footman followed.

"What is needed?" He inquired, and the Captain paused a moment. When he spoke, his voice was sad.

"To write about all the joys and pains in the world."


	5. Ticket? Who, me?

_The banquet table was laden with delicacies. The beautiful white linen was home to dozens of dishes, and he stared raptly at them, naming them in his mind. Roasted summer squash with nuts and honey, sautéed Fiente mushrooms, venison medallions in berry glaze… a whole roast boar…_

_He was so hungry. Stretching out a hand, he tried to take the dish of medallions… but it vanished as he touched it. Suddenly afraid, he reached for another plate and it did the same. He was so hungry! The smell of the food was driving him mad, the scent of the fresh coffee…_

_Wait. Coffee?_

Axel snorted, finally rousing from his uneasy dreams to the smell of food. He grimaced, curling up for a moment. He was so hungry his stomach was trying to eat through his spine, or at least it felt that way.

"Ohhh… argh!" Moving sent spikes of fire through his chest, and his muscles suddenly cramped. He closed his eyes and grit his teeth, trying to ride out the pain.

"Good, you're awake. Hold still." The Queen of Hearts didn't sound at all sympathetic, but when he opened his eyes she was setting up a breakfast tray across his bed. "Now…" With the help of many pillows and her strong arms, Axel managed to get himself into a sitting position. "Good. You'll feel a lot better once you've eaten. Would have been better if you'd eaten before you slept, but you probably couldn't have kept it down anyway."

"Yeah, I know." He picked up his spoon with a shaky hand and got started on the meal. It was huge, and she had prepared all kinds of things… bacon, eggs, hash browns, kippers, toast and fruits. There was even a plate of sautéed mushrooms. They weren't the same type as in his dream, but it didn't matter. They tasted wonderful.

"Don't eat so fast. You'll choke." She admonished him sharply. Axel paused for a moment to frown at her.

"You sound like my mother." Although he didn't really remember having a mother. But his Nobody and his current heart must have both had a mother at some point, and he imagined she would sound like that. There was a frozen silence, and the expression on her face turned to one of a rage so deep it could destroy anything it touched. Axel blinked and struggled to summon his fire, although if he needed it in his weakened state he was surely doomed… but then the rage was gone as quickly as it had come, replaced by icy calm.

"I'm no one's mother." She stood and smiled at him… a cold, mocking smile. "Eat and regain your strength. We'll speak again tomorrow." She exited the room, and he breathed out slowly.

"That bitch is scary." He mumbled to himself when he was sure she was out of earshot. "Wonder why mentioning a mother set her off like that?" Axel wondered if he would ever find out, then shrugged and applied himself to the food.

First things came first.

Unfortunately, while the food helped, he didn't regain all his strength at once. All through the day he ate and slept, and by the end of it his limbs were finally feeling steady. He slept dreamlessly and awoke feeling refreshed. Breakfast was waiting for him, and he didn't hesitate to dig in.

"Feeling better?" The Queen of Hearts asked sardonically, as she stepped into his room. She was carrying a strange looking package of black leather.

"Yeah, what's that- oh." She had dumped it onto his bed, and the package unraveled to reveal blue jeans, a red tank top and… Axel blinked and picked up the black leather jacket. It was very stylish, with red darts on the shoulders and… the two crystals from his Organization 13 cloak had been added to it. They dangled on either side of the zipper. "Hey… thanks." That small gesture somehow meant a lot to him. She shook her head.

"Think nothing of it. Are you ready to get started?" He could sense her sudden impatience, and nodded. He didn't want to wait any longer anyway. He desperately wanted to see Sora again.

"Yeah, give me a moment." She nodded and left the room to let him change. He put on his new clothes, and then paused to touch one of the crystals.

_She's weird,_ Axel mused to himself. _One moment you think she's going to rip your head off, the next she does something nice… it's really weird. And scary._ He couldn't recall being scared of much of anything as a Nobody. Maybe it was because he had a life to lose now… no, he'd been scared of her when he was still a Nobody. Something about the Queen made him think that if she wanted him dead, he'd be a bloody mess on the floor before he could get a single shot off. Not even Xenmas had been able to project that much menace._ Woah, nice._ There was a mirror in the corner of the room, and he posed for a moment, then grinned and touched his forehead.

"Name's Axel. Got it memorized?" He surprised himself with a laugh, then shook his head and walked out. No point in keeping the Queen waiting.

She was waiting for him in the living room, and motioned for him to follow her outside. It was still twilight outside, although Axel could have sworn it should be morning. Did daylight ever come on this world?

"Here." She handed him a fat money pouch, another bag and a… whistle? "That should be enough to buy whatever you need for your quest. If you run short, come back, money is no object for me. I trust you won't buy anything too stupid." She paused as he grinned cheekily at her, and then sighed. "Whatever. Just don't go insane. The second bag will make two trail biscuits a day and a flask of water if you need it. Lastly… the whistle will call my personal vehicle to you. It will carry you between worlds but it is not for personal use within the world. Got it?"

"Memorized. Yes ma'am." He took the bags, hanging the food one from his belt and hiding the money in his coat. The whistle he eyed for a moment then blew.

And winced. The sound was piercing, nails on a chalkboard piercing. Then his eyes widened as the vehicle appeared. It was small and looked like the flying equivalent of a sports car, sleek and sinuous. But the material it was made out of was hard to see. A dark violet color, it seemed to be fading in and out of reality. He had never seen anything like it.

"Wow. Where did you get this?" He asked reverently, running a hand over the material. Despite the appearance it was solid and warm to the touch. She shrugged.

"Elsewhere. It seats six, so you can't take more than five friends around. Oh… and one last thing." He glanced back at her, and she smiled coldly. "I gave you your heart. I can take it back. Don't fail me." Axel surprised her with a snort.

"I figured THAT out as soon as you made the offer. I'm Axel, and I'm _smart._ Got it memorized?" He almost regretted the taunt as her smile turned nasty.

"Well, if you're _smart_, I'll be expecting great things. Get to it." Axel hopped into the vehicle, and a dark canopy slid smoothly into place. Touching the controls… they were ridiculously simple to use… he plotted a course for Traverse Town.

It was the likeliest place for Sora to be.

* * *

"Traverse town." Axel hopped off the vehicle, which vanished as if it had never been. "Huh…" He looked around with new eyes, and liked what he saw. There were plenty of stores. Surely there was a library. If not, there would have to be a bookstore… although he didn't want to BUY all the new fiction books available. That would just be daft.

"Wonder where Sora would be… probably with those kids he was friends with." He tried to use the corridor of darkness… and stopped. "Oh. Right. Can't do that anymore. Oh well… time to walk!" Walking didn't bother him. He'd be able to see more of Traverse town that way.

"Hey mister! Want to buy something?" A small woman carrying a tray of jewelry accosted him. "Cheap, just for you!" Axel shook his head.

"Yeah, that's not really my- woah!" Something glittery suddenly caught and held his eyes. "What's that?" He lifted something free… a bracelet made of tiny interlocking symbols. The symbols were half copper and half silver, and seemed to represent fire and frost. It was fine work, and somehow it looked… familiar. "How much for this?"

"Two hundred munny." She immediately responded.

"Ha! No more than fifty!" He replied with a grin, and she screamed like he had just scalded her cat. The offer must have been just right. Finally they settled on eighty munny, and he slid the bracelet onto his wrist, admiring it. It suited him perfectly.

_How did I know how to bargain with a street vendor?_ His steps suddenly slowed as the thought occurred to him. He had never bartered as a Nobody, not once. He usually hadn't bothered to pay at all. _But I did know. I knew she was willing to bargain and exactly what to do. It… came from the heart._ He touched his chest, feeling the half healed scars, and shivered despite the warmth of the summer day. Finally he shrugged, and speeded up his pace. If he was remembering what was in his heart, well…. What would be, would be.

* * *

A few streets away, a puzzled but pleased street vendor counted her munny and wondered where the bracelet she had just sold had come from. She had checked her stock just that morning and it definitely hadn't been there. She couldn't recall ever seeing it before.

* * *

"Hey Sora!" Axel waved frantically at the boy. He was surprised to see how much Sora had grown. How long had it been since his 'death'? "Sora!" The sound of the train was almost overwhelming, and the kid still hadn't heard him! "Keybearer! Legend of the Universe! Kid!" Nothing. "By the Darkness! HEY BRAT!" He bellowed just as there was a lull in the sound, and suddenly everyone on the platform was staring at him. Axel grinned and waved. Embarrassment was just as foreign to his new nature as it had been to his old one.

"Axel?!?" Sora stared, and then began fighting through the crowd towards him. "Axel! You're alive! How did you survive? Where have you been?"

"Well, see, I – WOAH!" Sora's energetic hug almost knocked him down. "Hey, watch it, you're a lot heavier than the last time I saw you! Ow." His chest twinged as Sora let go.

"Sorry…" Sora looked down for a moment… then up with a grin. "I'm just happy to see you! Where have you been?" Axel touched his forehead, trying to think of how to explain.

"It's kind of a long story-" Someone else walked up to them far more sedately. "Hi Kairi. Sorry about that whole, you know, kidnapping you thing." Axel offered the apology in his usual, offhand way, but he meant it. She surprised him by smiling.

"Oh, it's okay. It all worked out for the best. But Sora, we're going to miss the train." She reminded him, and Axel tilted his head to one side.

"The train? Where you guys going?" He asked, honestly curious… and very glad he'd happened to walk into the train station and saw them there. He'd never thought that he might miss them entirely.

"Oh yeah…" Sora was momentarily subdued, then brightened. "Hey Axel, come to the beach with us! You can tell us all about what you've been doing these past three years." Axel blinked at that piece of information. It had been that long? No wonder Sora was bigger. And Kairi looked more mature too, now that he thought of it.

"Sure, why not?" He decided instantly. His search was going to take months, at least. It could wait a day. "I'd love to go to the beach."

"Awesome!" Sora pulled him along and for the first time he could remember, Axel boarded a train.

It was certainly a day for firsts.

* * *

The Queen of Hearts sighed irritably as she peered into her crystal ball, but made no comment as she put it away.

"I've waited decades for this. I can wait a little longer." She said to the hearts on her walls. They didn't answer. They never did.

* * *

"Hey Sora?"

"Yeah?"

"So what do they, like, do to you if they find you on the train without a ticket?"

"…How about we don't find out?"

"I'll do my best."


	6. Short but sweet

Amberglas sighed as she pictured the beach she was writing about. She knew about beaches in general… they were in the old stories of the Southern lands. But she had never seen one. In summer the lake had a filthy muddy bottom, and the edges were just as bad. The distant coast was nothing but rock and raging sea… too cold to swim in, even in the height of summer. Well, unless you were a masochist. She had heard some of the boys on the seashore did it as a contest. In her opinion, that just proved that being a boy surely lowered the IQ. No girl would be that stupid.

But even though no one here had experienced beaches, they all loved reading about them, and she settled in to detail it properly.

* * *

"So this is a beach." Axel looked around curiously. "Pretty sandy."

"Well, of course, that's what beaches are silly." Kairi giggled at him and then started running down the beach. "Over here! We can find a good empty place." The beach was a bit crowded and they wanted a nice, private place to talk. Axel started after her, surprised at how difficult it was to run on sand. Sora glided over it by comparison. Hadn't they both come from an island somewhere?

When he reached them they were already spreading out their towels. He took off his coat… it was too hot for the beach… and tossed it behind them before settling down onto the sand. He didn't have a towel, but he could make do. "So! Guess what? I'm not a Nobody anymore… I'm Somebody!" He grinned at them both, eyes bright with pleasure.

"Wow, you have a heart? How did it happen? Tell, tell!" Sora demanded, and Axel launched into the story with a lighthearted air. And a few extra details that hadn't happened but it wasn't like his audience would know the difference, right? Soon he had them both laughing and that was all that counted.

"…So I was wondering if you guys could help me?" He concluded his story. "It might take forever, but I don't know crap about what's been happening in other worlds. But you must know almost everything Sora. Hell, you've been in the middle of most of it!"

"It's been three years, Axel." Sora cautioned him, then blushed as Kairi cleared her throat. "But there, um, might have been some stuff after that. And I really owe you for saving my life… sure, I'll come!" Then he frowned. "Although I hope it doesn't run past summer vacation. I've been going to school. We both have been." Axel had only the vaguest idea of what summer vacation was. As far as he could remember he'd never been to school, and his heart had nothing to say on the subject that he could detect.

"Well, we'll have to try to hurry it up. And it'll be for a good cause anyway, hey? Thanks a ton Sora." Axel reached over to punch him lightly in the shoulder, grinning. "I knew I could count on Roxas. So, like… what do you DO on a beach anyway?" Sora and Kairi both stared at him a moment, then looked at each other.

"You swim and play… you've never been on a beach before?" Sora sounded like he could hardly comprehend someone being so beach deprived. Axel grinned and shrugged.

"Nah, Nobodies don't play much, you know? And I'm not getting much from my new heart yet. All I know about the beach is something Larxene told me…" He paused, then repeated from memory. "Sex on the beach makes a great drink but don't REALLY have sex on the beach or you'll get sand in your ho-ha. She wouldn't tell me what a ho-ha is." Although he could make an educated guess. Sora looked puzzled and Kairi blushed.

"I'm not telling you either," She said firmly. "But it sounds like good advice. Come on, let's swim!" She pulled off her clothes, revealing the swimsuit she had on beneath, and dashed into the sea. Sora followed suit, and after a moment of hesitation so did Axel. His boxers weren't exactly a swimsuit but they would pass.

* * *

Amberglas paused, and chewed on her pen. It was time to skip ahead in the story. The beach was wonderful, but you couldn't spend too long on it.

* * *

"Ohhhh darkness." Axel looked down at the book, bleary eyed, then thumped his head into it repeatedly. "This isn't an adventure. It's a book report."

"How do you think we feel? We're not even getting hearts out of it." Sora commented as he leafed through a book. They had come to the library first thing. If the Writer of Destiny was in Traverse Town, things would be wonderfully simple.

Of course, it wasn't going that way. They were quickly skimming all the recent works of fiction they could get there hands on, but so far there was absolutely nothing they could recognize.

"I didn't think it would be this bad." Axel had pictured a lot of traveling, a lot of questioning people and a lot of getting into trouble. The whole reading a lot of books aspect hadn't really made it into the full equation. But he sighed and lifted his head, picking up the book again and laboriously ran his finger over the page, sounding out every syllable. Then he glanced up, realizing Sora and Kairi were both looking at him. "What?"

The two youngsters exchanged glances, clearly reluctant to bring something up. Kairi finally spoke. "Axel… you can't read very well, can you?" That suddenly annoyed him.

"I read perfectly well! And I write too! Give me that." He snatched up the notepad she had been using and her pen, and quickly wrote a sentence. "See?" The two of them looked at the pad.

"Axel, that's… gibberish." Kairi said as gently as she could, and Axel blinked at her then stared at the sheet.

"No it's not! I just wrote 'I am Axel the great' and… I… oh." Axel said quietly as he glanced from his sheet to the book he had been reading. The script he had written in was clear as day to him, but the letters were entirely different from the book. He had written in a flowing script that was alien to Traverse Town, or any other world he knew of. Kairi pulled the notepad towards herself and examined it.

"It looks like a real language, but I've never seen anything like it before. It must be from your heart." Axel nodded wordlessly. "And I'm guessing you couldn't read well as a Nobody?"

"There wasn't much to read at Castle Oblivion." He muttered, and then sighed. "I guess I couldn't. I'm sorry. What should I do?" It was clear he wasn't going to be much help at the reading aspect of things.

"Why don't you go find more recent fiction books, and get us some coffee?" Kairi suggested. "And maybe a snack? Cookies?" The library didn't actually allow eating and drinking inside, but the enforcement wasn't too strict as long as no one abused it.

"Sure thing Kairi." Axel rose with a smile, and as he passed by he touched both rested a hand on each of their shoulders. "If I didn't say this already… thanks guys. I don't know what I'd do without you." He really didn't. It hadn't occurred to him that he wouldn't be able to read well enough to find the Writer of Destiny.

* * *

And in her workroom, the Queen of Hearts put a hand over her eyes, torn between disbelief, rage and laughter.

It had never occurred to her to ask if Axel could read.

* * *

Amberglas looked up, surprised, as someone knocked on the door.

"Amberglas! Aren't you coming to the tavern?" She grinned as she heard Mathira, and hurried to grab her coat.

"Coming!" She ran to the door, a sprightly jump to her step. The story could wait. Real life was far more important than fiction.


	7. The Battle of Darrowshire

Author's Note: I really have no idea what to name the flying car. If you have any ideas, put it up in a review please. That's also my way of asking for reviews.  Pretty please? Also, to any WoW nerds out there… like myself… I know this isn't a perfect rendition of the Battle of Darrowshire. Sue me. I haven't done the quest in years.

_Amberglas stood at her window, looking out. The weather had turned brutally cold, and a storm was building. She shivered, pulling her cloak around herself more tightly. Fuel had gotten too dear for anything but cooking, and they had broken out all the furs. A small hangover from her night at the tavern wasn't helping matters. It felt like she had a headache behind her right eye._

"_Will the winter ever end?" Sighing, she walked back to her table and picked up her pen, looking at a second list on her chalkboard, a list of places. Which one did she want to use? She felt like writing about a place as dark and hopeless as her own land._

_Her eyes stopped on one name, and she nodded. She knew exactly where to put the story. But first, they would need to go somewhere else. It would advance the story considerably._

* * *

"The Writer of Destiny is definitely not in Traverse town." Kairi said firmly.

"Yeah." Axel sighed. "That would just be too easy, wouldn't it?" They had skimmed over every new work of fiction they could get their hands on, and it was really clear that nothing they had found matched what they were looking for. "Well, guess we better start traveling. Any idea where we should go first?" He really had no clue, although the vehicle didn't seem to actually need a firm direction. He'd checked it out a few times while they were reading and if he wanted, it could take them to completely random worlds.

"Maybe we should visit King Mickey first?" Sora suggested brightly. "Maybe he'll be able to tell us something about the Writer of Destiny too. I'd like to know why the Queen of Hearts wants her, especially since you said she's pretty mean."

"Disney Castle?" Axel sighed. "Oh… if we must." He had been to the castle before, although only briefly, in his time as a Nobody. He hadn't minded it then. It had just been a place… but now, he found he felt a profound reluctance to go there and he was hard pressed to say why. Sora and Kairi exchanged glances, catching his feelings.

"Is something wrong with the Castle, Axel?" Sora asked. "It really is the best place to go…" Axel shook his head.

"No, it's just… I don't know. It's too…" Axel struggled to put his feelings into words. "Familiar. But not familiar enough. I don't know how to explain it… ah! It's just me, nothing to worry about." Sora scratched his head, puzzled, but then shrugged.

"Well, if you say so. Can your thingy take us to Disney Castle?"

"Oh sure." Axel pulled out his whistle and gave it a blow. Sora flinched and Kairi yelped, clamping her hands over her ears. "Oh, it's not that bad… ah, vehicle's here." He hopped inside, and the other two clambered into the comfortable seats. "You know, this thing needs a lot better name than vehicle or thingy. Maybe we should call it the Love Boat?"

"Are you nuts? Lets call it, um… Travel Happens?"

"That's not bad. Have to think about it… how about Bad Penny? Heh, I wonder what the Queen of Hearts called it."

* * *

Elsewhere, the Queen of Hearts snorted, covering the crystal ball in snot until she wiped it off with a sleeve.

"I called it a vehicle. Idiots."

* * *

As if sensing their desires, the vehicle materialized next to a balcony high up in the castle… where King Mickey, Goofey and Donald just happened to be standing. They all started then relaxed as the canopy vanished and Sora waved.

"Hello your Majesty!" Sora braced himself, then leapt from the car to the balcony, setting the vehicle to rocking. Axel followed suit a moment later and they both reached back to help Kairi. Gripping both their hands, she smiled and made the jump easily. She could no doubt have done it without the help, but the gallantry was cute.

"Axel?!?" Chorus Donald and Goofy, then Donald continued alone. "Wow, you're alive?"

"We thought you died! It's good to see you're okay." Goofy nodded as he spoke. Axel had caused troubles for them… but the way he had saved them made all the difference. Axel grinned and waved.

"I thought I was dead too, but now I'm better than alive… I'm Somebody!" Axel's voice was warm with pleasure… he never got tired of saying that. He was _somebody_ now. It was so, so much better than being a Nobody.

"Wow! You got a heart? I didn't think that was possible." King Mickey seemed a little troubled by it, and Sora kneeled down in front of him.

"Well, that's why we're here Your Majesty… a witch gave it to him but she'll take it back if we don't find the Writer of Destiny." Donald and Goofy looked at each other… they had never heard of the Writer… but King Mickey started in surprise. Sora immediately noticed. "Do you know anything about the Writer, Your Majesty?"

"Oh…" King Mickey looked down, uncertain. "I probably shouldn't tell you…" Sora seized his hand, and Axel felt vaguely impressed. Sora was always so… sincere.

"But we really need to know to help Axel! Please, Your Majesty?" Axel started to say something, but stopped as Kairi kicked him in the ankle. Sora didn't need help convincing the King. He was already weakening.

"Well," King Mickey began slowly. "I always thought it was just a myth, really. I never thought a Writer of Destiny could really exist. You see, everything they write comes true. Even if you know about the story they've written and try to do something else, you'll find a reason to follow the story. And if they write about the past, they can change anything that has happened." Mickey spread his hands. "Whole worlds could be written away, gone forever, if a Writer of Destiny decided to write a story about it."

"Woah! Really?" Axel sounded impressed but wasn't sure he believed the King. How could stories have that much power? On the other hand… that would certainly explain why the Queen of Hearts would want a Writer of Destiny. "So you could, like, get the Writer of Destiny to write about you being an absolute ruler of the universe? And you would be?"

"Exactly." Mickey nodded solemnly. "There's a very old story that a Writer of Destiny with a dark and evil heart did exactly that… but the myth says that most Writers never know what they are. They write about far away lands. Are you sure you want to find the Writer for your witch?" Axel looked down, green eyes sad for a moment, then sighed and looked up to meet King Mickey's eyes.

"I have to, Your Majesty." He laid a hand on his chest. "I can't go back to being a Nobody. And my heart… it says it has something to do, something very important. I can't let it go."

"Well, if you're going to look for the Writer we'll help you out, ayuck!" Goofy spoke up and Donald nodded.

"Yeah! We'll take the gummi ship and go to all the places we've already been. We can get everyone there to help us! That way you only have to explore new places. And we can leave word with the King for you on what we've found." Sora looked thrilled and Axel was immediately enchanted with the idea. Having two sets of people working on the same problem would surely speed things up, and Donald and Goofy could enlist help everywhere they went.

"That would be great!" Impulsively, Axel grabbed them both into a hug, startling a squawk out of Donald. "Guys… thanks." He smiled, his green eyes softening. The help and friendship they were offering made his heart feel warm. Goofy patted him on the back.

"Aw, it's nothing Axel. We owe you for saving our lives, ayuck!"

"Still… thanks." Axel said softly, and slowly let them go before turning to look back at the vehicle. It was still floating in mid-air, patiently waiting for them as though it sensed they wouldn't be here long. "We'd better get going, I guess."

"Good luck everyone!" Donald, Goofy and the King all waved as they climbed back into the vehicle and vanished.

* * *

Axel hopped easily out of the vehicle, Sora and Kairi jumping out behind him. He looked around and paused, taken aback.

"Woah, what happened to this place?" They were standing on barren, rocky hills beside a gutted town. It looked like half of it had been seared by fire, and the rest had simply decayed with time. And the forest below them looked like it had been infected with some gruesome plague. A bear ambled out of the woods, and Axel winced. It was crawling with leprous, festering growths. Even the sky looked like someone had been sick in it.

"This land is very close to the darkness," Kairi said softly, looking around. "Oh!" She jumped back and drew her weapon, a thick dagger, as a skeleton suddenly lunged towards them. Sora summoned his keyblade and Axel called his chakram… but to his surprise, the skeleton seemed immune to fire. It didn't matter much though. It wasn't immune to sharp edges, and soon the bones were scatted across the hill.

"Look!" Kairi suddenly pointed at a mostly intact building… Axel squinted. It looked like a tavern to him, although it was hard to be sure. "There's a little girl up there! I saw her looking out the window… we need to help her!" She jumped down the hill, surprising the two boys.

"Kairi!" Sora jumped after her, leaving Axel gaping after them for a moment.

"I thought I was the impulsive one?" He wondered out loud, then shrugged and followed. With his longer legs, it wasn't hard to catch up. The sights in the town were pretty bad, though… more skeletons, rotting zombies, and plenty of bones littered everywhere. Also some… things that seemed to have been made of flesh stitched together. They were so huge the road shook as they walked, but strangely, everything seemed to ignore them as they ran up to the building.

"She was up here." Kairi darted up the stairs, and Sora struggled to keep up. Then she stopped at the entrance to a room. "Oh!" Axel peered around her and blinked. Most of the tavern was a gutted ruin, but inside that one room was a window into the past. The wood, which everywhere else was grey and decaying, was warm and well polished. The bed looked not only functional but comfortable and there were tapestries on the walls. Kairi's child in the window turned out to be a very, very small woman. Axel was surprised… she looked a bit like a dwarf, but not quite. She seemed perfectly made, just extremely tiny. She smiled at them and gestured at them to come inside.

"I'm sorry for deceiving you, dear, but I needed to speak to you. I'm Chromie. How are you?" They all slipped into the room and Kairi smiled at the tiny woman.

"Hi, I'm Kairi. This is Sora and that's Axel." Chromie nodded.

"Yes, I know. We've met before… or we'll meet in the future. It's a bit hard to keep track sometimes. You're here looking for the Writer of Destiny." She smiled as they started in surprise, her eyes twinkling. "Sorry… you wouldn't know yet. I'm a bronze dragon, one of the Keepers of Time. I take this form to be less alarming. I can't tell you where the Writer of Destiny is, but I can tell you she isn't on this world. But I do need your help with something."

"Aw." Axel accepted that with a mixture of disappointment and relief. He wished this had been the place to find the Writer, but he was relieved he wouldn't have to try reading more books. "What do you need our help with?" She had just saved them a lot of reading, so he was willing to be charitable. Chromie nudged a bundle on the floor by her feet.

"Well, you see, some adventurers gathered these relics for me. They were supposed to use them to change the past, and save Captain Redpath." She paused a moment. "Let me tell you what happened…"

"You see, only a few years ago this land was beautiful and green. It was called Lordaeron and the people who lived here were… somewhat discontent actually, but we don't have the time to go into that." Chromie smiled gently, and then continued. "Demons created the Lich King from a captive spirit. He has the power to raise and control the dead, and his power grows with every life he claims. He started with the far Northlands, but soon was invading Lordaeron."

"In a small town called Darrowshire, the people made a stand." Her tone turned sad, and they listened, enthralled. "When it was over there would only be a handful of survivors. Captain Redpath, a great man and the leader of the defenders would be twisted by the death knight Marduk the Black into a corrupted form. He would spread death and pestilence through the land before he finally fell at Garron's Withering."

"We cannot stop his corruption. That has been written in the book of time. But with these relics, you can call up the ghosts of the battle and change the final outcome. You can save Redpath's spirit from his final corruption so he can finally rest. Will you do that for me? The adventurers that were going to help went to Outland. That's important too, but… Captain Redpath deserves a better end."

"We'll be glad to help." Kairi said warmly. "Where is Darrowshire?" Chromie gestured towards the window.

"To the East. Follow the road, there will be a sign at the turnoff. You really can't miss it. And thank you." She paused a moment, then added. "And remember… this battle happened years ago. As real as it might seem, there's nothing you can do to change the actual outcome. All you can change is Redpath's fate. Oh, and one last thing…" She passed a bronze staff to Kairi, who took it, startled. "These two will need healing, and the staff will suit you best. Use it well dear."

"Thank you." She answered warmly and turned to go. It would be a long walk to Darrowshire.

* * *

"So… this is Darrowshire." Axel glanced around, his hands on his hips. "This place is the pits." Then he reconsidered. "No. That's an insult to pits."

The former town was truly beyond run-down. The buildings were sagging and decayed… several were nothing but rubble. Weathered bones were scattered everywhere. Entire skeletons had gone unburied, he noted queasily. And great banners had been erected, with the dark blue and silver symbols of the Scourge. All the grass was dead or diseased, and the trees were just as bad… a less welcoming place could not have been imagined.

_Mister?_ Axel paused just as he was about to bury the relics as Chromie had instructed, and looked around. The voice has sounded like that of a little girl.

"Did you hear that?" He asked Sora and Kairi, who exchanged a worried glance.

"No, we didn't hear anything… Axel, are you feeling okay?" Kairi asked. Axel ignored that as he spotted a ghostly child waving from one of the buildings.

"Over there… there's a little kid…!" Abandoning the relics, he ran to the house. Sora and Kairi followed and watched as he slid down to one knee in front of the ghost of a little girl.

In life, she had had hair almost as red as his own. Her eyes had been blue though, and she had a very sweet smile as she looked up at him. _Hey Mister. What are you doing here? Have you seen my daddy?_

"I don't know. What's your name?" He asked the child, and she smiled at him again, cuddling a doll to her chest.

_I'm Pamela Redpath. A nice lady found my dolly for me, but I don't know where my daddy is. I think he went to war. Could you ask him to come home? There are scary things outside. It feels like I've been waiting forever._ Axel swallowed, realizing she must have been dead since the Battle of Darrowshire. She'd been dead for years. He glanced around the room, and almost retched as he saw the tiny skeleton in the corner…

"We'll get your daddy to come home. I promise." He replied. Sora started to say something, but Kairi poked him in the side… they could see the child but not hear her. But she didn't want him to interrupt. Pamela smiled and skipped away with a spectral laugh. Axel straightened and slowly walked back out, pushing past Sora and Kairi.

"Well, what did she say?" Sora finally asked impatiently, and Axel blinked at him. "We couldn't hear her. What did she say?"

"Oh." Axel swallowed. "She wants us to ask her daddy to come home. She's Pamela Redpath." Imagining that little girl, waiting for years for her daddy to come home… somehow, it hurt his heart. Sora looked subdued for a moment, and Kairi seemed to understand. She gently touched Axel's shoulder to lend comfort.

"Well, we're going to save her dad so… yeah. Lets get started!" He grabbed the relic bag and started burying it.

As soon as the bag was safely in the ground, ghosts of the past sprung up around them. Dashing knights in silver armor, some bearing the symbol of Lordaeron and others with the symbol of Southshore. Footmen in lighter armor, and militia in whatever they could find… even a few combat mages ready for action. And Captain Redpath was easy to spot, patrolling the lines and strengthening morale with his presence. Soon the enemy appeared, undead monsters. Axel shuddered as he realized they, too, had been knights and footmen not long ago. Their rotted flesh still showed the marks of the wounds that had felled them.

A film seemed to go over Axel's mind as the battle began. He saw the ghosts of men and women battling the undead, and something in it resonated deeply with his heart. He began to sway gently, ready to destroy, and softly began to sing. Sora and Kairi both listened as the ghosts began taking up the song.

"Horses run with a power shield, fight those bastards 'till they yield, sound the horn and call the cry… how many of them can we make die?"

"How many of them can we make die?" The ghosts echoed, and the battle was joined with a clash of weapons. Axel laughed as fire flared around him, bloodletters blazing to cinders, and struck out with his chakra.

"Follow order as you're told, make their yellow blood run cold." His blade bit into rotting flesh, then flared with fire as Axel struggled to keep up with Captain Redpath. "Fight until you die and rot… a force like ours is hard to stop."

"Good man! Keep it up, and we'll drive them back!" Captain Redpath shouted to him, and Axel laughed wildly. The Captain was real to him, the people were real to him. He was a defender of Lordaeron. Yes. This was real! Sora and Kairi were there too, but they seemed distant now.

"Your shieldmate, Captain!" The waves seemed endless, but it didn't matter. His weapons flew through the air, blowing fire across the battle, slicing through meat and bone. "Close your mind to stress and pain, fight until you're no longer sane… let not one cur pass by… how many of them can we make die?"

"How many of them can we make die?" The roar behind him was irresistible. And he didn't want to resist. His heart burned to fight until he could fight no more, to defend the innocent and destroy the enemy. A woman fled past him, carrying a child, and he killed the pursuing zombie with another burst of flame. "Guard your women and children well, send these bastards back to Hell!"

"For Lordaeron!" Someone shouted, and they all took up the cry as something shot overhead and set the main building on fire. Women and children screamed, but a quick thinking frost mage called down frost to put the fires out. "Use your shield and use your head, fight until everyone is dead! Raise your banners to the sky…. How many of them can we make die?!?"

_**NOT ENOUGH**_. The voice drove Axel, Sora and Kairi to their knees. Utter silence spilled over the battlefield. The undead pulled back, and the defenders all stepped back. Axel blinked, suddenly aware of the gore on his hands, spilling over his chakra and splattering his clothes. He could taste blood in his mouth from blows he hadn't even noticed taking. Captain Redpath was still beside him, but he was a ghost again… and Sora and Kairi were solid.

_That was what Chromie meant… about not getting caught up in the past._ He had completely lost himself in the struggle, believing with all his heart he was a soldier of Lordaeron. But that illusion had been shattered by the being riding towards them out of the mist…

A skeletal horse and a skeletal rider walked slowly towards them, and Captain Redpath readied himself. Dark armor creaked in the silence, and the death knight lifted his head, yellow eyes glowing in the dim light.

"A Heartless?" Sora said breathlessly… his clothing was just as filthy as Axel's. Kairi was cleaner, having put Chromie's staff to good use healing the two of them. A cold, lifeless chuckle answered him.

_**I am Marduk the Black.**_ The stranger whispered, lifting one hand. _**And it is time for this farce to end.**_ A bolt of vile power struck Captain Redpath, who fell to his knees with a cry, then onto his face. His death rattle was horribly clear in the silence… and then his spirit rose from his body, corrupted and torn. Marduk laughed, and turned and slowly walked away as the defending ghosts cried out in horror. The undead surged forward, passing by Axel and the others as if they weren't even there. _The battle is lost… no. The battle was lost years ago. All we can do is save Redpath._ That was the only real difference they could make now, and Axel gathered himself to meet the onslaught.

A blade of darkness slashed out, clashing with his chakra, and he almost staggered at the intensity of the blow. But Sora's keyblade slammed into the ghost's side, and when Redpath the Corrupted turned to strike at the other threat, Axel attacked with fire and fury. Kairi's staff glowed as healing power washed over Sora…

The battle seemed to take forever. The ghost seemed to have endless stamina… but finally he staggered and fell, then vanished in a cloud of blue sparks. Axel stepped back, feeling weariness in every line of his body.

"It's over… but did we save him?" Sora asked, pale and shocked by the carnage.

"I'm not sure… oh. Yes. There, you see?" Axel pointed to the shade of a young man in civilian garb walking towards Pamela's house. The little girl ghost skipped out to meet him, and they spoke, although the trio could hear nothing. Then the man vanished, but the child waved to them then ran back into the house. "Lets go talk to her." Slowly, they walked back to Pamela's house.

_Hi Mister!_ The little girl ghost smiled as Axel knelt in front of her. She held out a mug to him, and he took it with shaking hands, his eyes filling with tears. _Don't be sad. Daddy says he's coming home soon and I should just wait here for him. He asked me to be nice to you, so I made you some tea with sugar. Do you like it? _Axel smiled shakily and tried the tea, then blinked in surprise as a wave of warmth traveled through him. He took a large drink, then offered it to Sora.

"Try it… it's some kind of magic." Sora looked surprised, but took the tea. He and Kairi shared it as Axel looked back at Pamela, who was scuffing the floor with one spectral foot. He had a feeling she wasn't done talking.

_Daddy also said I should give you his key. He buried something out back before the fighting started, and he wants you to have it._ She offered him a small key and he took it, his hand passing through hers but finding the key. _And don't be sad for me, please mister? I'm fine now._

"I… I won't be sad for you, Pamela. I promise." Axel said, knowing it would be a very hard promise to keep. But if the little ghost was happy… he wouldn't be sorry for her anymore. There was nothing he could do to change the past any further, and they had made the present much better. "Thank you." Pamela smiled, then vanished in blue sparks like her father. Axel took a deep breath and stood. "Lets go check out that treasure."

The little cask they unearthed a few moments later was grimy, and when he put the key in the lock he had to fight to get it open. But it finally creaked open, and he blinked at the contents.

"…Huh." There were three amulets in the chest. Axel reached for them then froze. They were silver and bronze, one side looking like a stylized flame and the other looking like frost… he lifted the sleeve of his leather jacket and looked at the bracelet on his wrist.

"Hey, that's the same symbol!" Sora said, surprised as he peered over Axel's shoulder. "What does that mean?"

"I don't know," Axel said slowly. "But it looks like there's one for each of us." He passed the other amulets to Sora and Kairi, then put his own on. "Lets go back to Castle Disney." Even if Goofy and Donald weren't back, they could rest. And he wanted nothing more than rest right now.


	8. The Hell of Golfers

"This looks like a pretty nice world." Sora commented, looking around with a smile. It was actually an understatement, in Axel's opinion. It was a beautiful little world. They were standing on a wide area of short cut grass, lined on both sides with trees. It wasn't too hot and wasn't too cold and the sun was shining down on them cheerily. It looked like a glorious spring day.

"It's nice, but we need to find some people." Axel took one step forward and stopped abruptly. "Woah! What the hell are you?" A creature composed entirely out of drifting white disks had suddenly appeared in front of them. There was no discernable head but somehow they had no doubt it was intelligent. It confirmed that by speaking.

"I am the Maintainer of the Golf Course. Why are you not teeing off?" They exchanged glances. None of them had ever heard of… golf.

"Actually, we're looking for books. Do you have a library?" Kairi asked politely, and there was a long pause as the disk creature seemed to think about it.

"That's an interesting question. No one has asked me that before. May I ask why you need a library?" The three of them exchanged glances. They had decided not to straight out ask people about the Writer of Destiny, given the information King Mickey had given them. If a lot of people knew about the Writer, he or she might be in considerably danger. But…

"We're looking for information on an old myth about the Writer of Destiny. Have you heard of it?" Axel asked as innocently as he could grin he couldn't quite suppress sort of ruined it though.

"I have never heard of such a thing. But I will check my data stream to see." The creature's tone turned condescending. "It is not in a format flesh-beings can comprehend. It will take some time for a full search, however. Would you like to play a round of golf while you wait?" There was a strange eagerness to the Maintainer's voice. Axel scratched his head, unable to think of a good reason to refuse, and shrugged.

"Sure, why not?" Three bags full of clubs materialized in front of them, as well as three little booklets. They each grabbed one, and Axel blinked. His was written in the cursive script he understood so well, the language from his heart.

"Those will explain how the game is played. I have included basic information since you are unfamiliar with it. Please follow the rules exactly. There can be consequences if they are broken." The Maintainer vanished before any of them could ask what it meant, and they exchanged uneasy glances.

"That sounded almost like a threat." Kairi said slowly. Axel thought for a moment, then laughed.

"Oh, you're too serious Kairi! It's just a game. It probably meant we would have to pay for broken clubs or something." Axel flipped open the booklet and started reading.

A short time later, they were teeing up on the first hole. Axel smiled confidently as he looked out onto the course. He knew exactly where he wanted to put his shot. How hard could it be?

He found out a moment later as his ball soared gracefully through the air, ricocheted off a tree and plunked directly into the water hazard. Stunned, he stared out over the course.

"You need to tee off again and take a one stroke penalty for losing the ball," Kairi said helpfully. She had taken over the job of keeping score and reading up on the rules immediately. Axel took a deep breath and fished another ball out of the bag.

"Ooookay. Let's try that again." This time he hit a nice, fine stroke… that actually hit the flag with a twang, then ricocheted into the water hazard. "Oh you have got to be kidding me!" Sora started to laugh, and Kairi shook her head with a smile.

"Let me try it Axel!" With a gesture of disgust, Axel moved out of the way and let Sora tee up. "See, this is how you do it…" Sora hit his ball perfectly. It soared through the air like a bird on the wing-

And hit a tree on the other side of the fairway and then ricocheted into the water hazard.

"Ahahahahahahha!" Axel burst into laughter at the stunned look on Sora's face. "That's how you… do it… hahaha!"

"Hey, I'm still doing better than you! I only lost one ball." Sora protested, and grabbed a ball out of the bag. "Here, let me try again."

With a sigh, Kairi noted the penalties for both of them then moved off to the side. There was a special tee-off area for women, and she quickly put her ball into flight. It landed neatly on the middle of the fairway since she hadn't been trying for insane distance. Then she waited patiently for the two boys to finally get a ball onto the grass.

She had a feeling this was going to be a very long game.

* * *

"Is it just me, or is this place getting weird?" Axel asked, scratching his head and looking out over the fourth hole. Sora was teeing off nearby.

"Weirder." Sora said absently as he squinted at the course, trying to figure out where to put his ball. It was going to be really, really tricky.

"Huh?"

"It was already weird. It can only get weirder." Sora replied patiently, then gave his ball a whack. Unfortunately, it landed in exactly what he had been trying to avoid… one of the large steam vents on the fairway. The ball seemed to vanish for a moment, then suddenly a geyser of steam spit it back out.

"By the Darkness, look out, it's coming back!" Axel jumped to the side as the ball flew up in a neat arc and finally landed… directly on Sora's tee. The three of them stared at the ball for a moment.

"Kairi? Is that a penalty?" Sora finally asked. Kairi frowned, flipping through the booklet.

"Steam vents are a penalty." She confirmed. Sora sighed and took his swing again as Axel grinned. They were both trying to win, and taking a fiendish delight when the other got a penalty. The game was a lot more fun that way.

* * *

"Now this is just going too goddamn far. Darkness! They expect us to play in this?" Axel put his hands on his hips as he glared out over the sixth hole.

The herd of dinosaur-like creatures contentedly grazing on the grass was something of a problem. Fortunately, they seemed as curious and intelligent as cows. Also, it seemed likely that a full force ball wouldn't even annoy them. They were still a bit difficult to work around.

What was almost impossible to work around was their dung. Dung that had apparently been rained on recently and was now melting nicely in the warm temperatures. It had the consistency of water and the smell of… well… dung. Axel sighed and made his shot. Naturally, it plunked down in a huge puddle of dung. He winced as he heard it splash.

"You have to play it where it lays." Sora said with a grin. He'd gotten lucky and managed to get his ball past the dung. Kairi had quietly put her shot even farther, but she wasn't mentioning that. She was trying to stay out of the contest. "Or take a penalty." Axel stared at him wide-eyed.

"Are you seriously, _seriously_ telling me that if I don't play my ball in a puddle of dino poo I have to take a penalty? Are you doing that to me?" He demanded, looking truly pitiful. Unfortunately, Sora was starting to wise up to that.

"Yup. Go show us what you can do!" Sora grinned wickedly, and Axel gave him a dirty look. Then he sighed and shouldered his bag, stalking over to the ball.

_I'll show you what I can do… oh man, GROSS._ He shook his head as he looked over the situation. The consistency of the dung was even worse than he'd thought. His only hope was to hit it very shallowly and hope for the best. He carefully took aim and drew back his club…

_**SPLASH!**_

"DARKNESS!" Axel screamed as Sora burst into laughter. He was covered in liquefied crap! He tried futily to wipe some of it off, but it only smeared. Thankfully he'd thought to take off his jacket but still… "Sora, shut up!" His friend was laughing hysterically at his predicament. Green eyes narrowing, Axel grinned wickedly. "Hey, Sora!" The brunette looked up, still laughing, just in time to see Axel swing a second time.

_**KER-SPLASH!**_

There was a shocked silence as a dripping Sora looked down at himself. Of course, that silence only lasted a moment.

"AXEL!" Sora immediately gave chase as Axel took off, laughing wildly. But Axel slipped before he took more than five steps, and skidded into another pile of dung. Sora tackled him directly into the puddle and sent more of it flying everywhere. They started to wrestle.

Meanwhile, Kairi shook her head and noted down their penalties a safe distance away, deciding quite firmly that if she had children she wanted girls. Girls didn't play in dinosaur crap because girls weren't entirely insane.

* * *

"This place is pretty nice." Axel looked around approvingly, his stomach rumbling. They had reached the tenth hole and found the clubhouse. It was a nice, dark red bricked building and he could smell the heavenly scents of something good on the cook.

"I just hope they don't mind the smell," Kairi said dryly, and the two boys both looked a bit shamefaced. They'd washed in one of the water hazards after they were both exhausted, but all of the scent was just not coming out. Kairi was keeping a fair distance from the two of them.

Fortunately, they soon realized that wouldn't be a problem. The creatures in the clubhouse were amazingly varied. There were things like gargoyles, demons, a few other humans and a foursome of what looked like humanoid wolves. The bartender had a lot of tentacles and seemed completely indifferent to the smell as they were taken to a seat at the bar. Axel blinked, a little amazed. The bartender was cleaning six glasses at once.

"What can I get you folks to drink?" He rumbled, and Axel looked at the little plastic cards on the bar. They had a list of cocktails, beers and a good assortment of wines on them.

"Uh… a margarita, please." It had been a long time since he'd had any good alcohol, and Axel was feeling the need.

"Just some water for me." Kairi said with a smile. The bartender nodded and pushed her over a bottle of water.

"I'd like a chocolate milkshake." Sora requested. The bartender lifted an eyebrow.

"With rum in it?" He asked, and Sora blinked. That was not something he had ever been asked before.

"Sure, why not?" He replied agreeably.

"Because you're fifteen would be why not," Axel said quietly, but Sora just grinned at him.

"The bartender doesn't seem to care." He pointed out reasonably, and Axel shrugged. Sora had a point, and he was pretty sure no one could get sloshed on an alcoholic milkshake. There was a strange barking sound and he turned in surprise to see one of the wolfmen standing by his shoulder. No… a wolfwoman.

"She wants to know where you got that alluring fragrance." The bartender easily translated her barks for them.

"Dino dung," Axel replied easily as Sora blushed and Kairi giggled. "There's plenty of it on sixth hole if she wants some." The bartender translated, and the wolfwoman barked something he presumed was thanks before going back to her own table. "Wow, would you look at this food?" Axel perused the menu the waitress had handed them. "Mobius mice? Gorgon eye soup? That sounds dangerous… ooo, a dragon burger with home fries? I wonder who hunts this stuff." Given how strange the whole place was, he was willing to bet the dragon burger was the real deal, not just spicy. Axel finally decided on the dragon burger. Sora took the rattlesnake chili and Kairi went for the chicken friend unicorn steak. The food was extremely good, flavorful and filling. The only strange part came at the end, when Axel tried to pay. The bartender seemed baffled by the concept.

"We serve anyone using the golf course. You don't have to pay for your meals." He said patiently, and the three exchanged confused looks. They hadn't paid anything to use the course… in fact, the Maintainer had practically demanded they use it. No one wanted to get paid? But that seemed to be the case. Confused but cheerful, they went to start their play again.

* * *

"You're joking. You have got to be joking." Sora stared at Axel, who grinned back.

"Nope. You made me play it where it lies. Now you play it where it lies." Sora's ball had landed in the lava from an active volcano hazard on the fourteenth hole. Unfortunately for him, the lava was moving very slowly under a thick skin of black crust. It was remotely possible that it might be playable. Well, if you ran really fast and didn't mind the soles of your shoes melting.

"Just take a penalty Sora, please?" Kairi pleaded. She really didn't want to see him burn his feet off. But Sora looked at the lava with an expression of determination.

"No Kairi, I'm going to do this. RAR!" Before either of them could react, Sora ran like the lighting across the lava. He smacked the ball good and hard then leaped off, his shoes smoking. "HAH! I did it. Take that!"

"Well. I'm impressed." Axel paused, and then smiled wickedly. "Now you're in the sandtrap." Sora paused, then turned to look at where his ball had gone.

"Darkness! Not again."

* * *

"The eighteenth hole. We're done." Axel sighed with relief. It had been fun… a LOT of fun at times… but he was glad to be done. He could see himself playing this game once in a while for kicks but all the time? Never. Still, it had been a relaxing time and-

His thoughts were abruptly derailed as the Maintainer of the Golf Course appeared in front of them.

"I have checked my information feed for you. There is no mention of a Writer of Destiny or any of the stories you described. So it is time to begin playing again." Axel blinked at that. Why would they want to play again?

"Yeah… well thanks, but actually, once was enough for us. We need to find the Writer of Destiny, so we'll be going now." The Maintainer gently floated forwards, and the three of them took a step back. Something about it suddenly seemed… threatening.

"I think you do not understand. You cannot leave this golf course. Ever. This is the Hell of Golfers and you are lost souls. Now… tee up. It's time to play."

"Oh shit," Axel muttered to Sora and Kairi. "Get ready to make a run for it." He had an idea, although he had no idea if it would work. He smiled politely at the Maintainer. "Hey… if you're the Maintainer, you keep the course in good shape, right?" The Maintainer paused, puzzled by that question.

"Of course." It couldn't imagine why Axel was asking. The red-head suddenly grinned.

"Well, maintain this!" And he set several trees on fire with a snap of his fingers. Shocked, the Maintainer darted away as Axel blew his whistle. "Come on, let's get out of here!" Leaping onto the ship, they vanished before the Maintainer could realize exactly what had happened.


	9. Axel's Trial

"Can you feel it Captain?" The Captain and his Footman were standing high up on one of the battlements in the Castle of Lost Dreams. The Captain nodded slowly, looking out over the frozen forest.

"Yes. She has opened the way for us. We must all stand ready for the call." He rested a hand on the cold grey stone. "Not a moment too soon. The winter will not end unless the Kingdom finally has a heart."

* * *

_Amberglas chewed on her lip as she wrote that final line, but shrugged. Surely the spring was just late this year. Her story would be published in summer, and the thought of a winter that didn't end would just be amusing then._

_Surely._

* * *

"Woah!" As soon as they arrived in the new world, the vehicle vanished, dumping its three passengers unceremoniously onto the ground. Axel pushed himself up, rubbing his head. "It's never done that before… uh." He glanced around, taking stock of their surroundings. "Maybe it was too scared to stay. Don't say I blame it."

They were standing on a hillock in the middle of a swamp. Yet, there were no frog cries or bird calls, just a leaden silence. It was hard to see any distance due to a thick mist. A humid yet oddly cool breeze wafted over then, and Kairi shivered, rubbing her arms as the two boys scouted a bit. Something was… wrong about this place. She smiled, though, as Sora found a stick and tried to find the bottom of the swamp.

"Ewww." The stick he pulled out had sunk in to half its length, and was coated in fetid mud. "We have to walk through this?" Axel considered the situation carefully. There were plenty of hillocks… and sometimes the distances between them looked a little long, but if they walked around until they found a shorter one…

"I think we can just jump between the islands." Words led to actions, and he backed up a bit, then ran forward and leapt easily to the next one. The mossy ground squelched under his feet, but held.

As they left the first hillock, the mist closed over it… and it vanished. But they were looking forward, and did not see.

"Geez, it feels like we've been walking forever." Axel commented. "Right Sora?" No reply. "Sora?" Axel looked over his shoulder and his eyes widened. There was no one there… and nothing but mist. "Sora! Kairi?" He whirled around, searching the mist. Now he couldn't even make out the other hillocks… there was nothing but his small little island and the endless mist. "SORA! KAIRI!" Gesturing, he summoned his flame and his chakras. But there was nothing to strike at.

_Axel…_ a female voice breathed, and he whirled again, eyes darting as he tried to penetrate the mist.

"Who's there? Show yourself?" He stepped back as the swamp seemed to waver, then slowly swirl around him. It reminded him a little of Twilight Town… it was as if the swamp had never been real, just a construct of data. Or something else, something far stranger. His eyes widened as everything became white, and solidified into a room that was far too familiar. "…"

He was standing on the floor of the throne room of Castle Oblivion. It had never bothered him as a Nobody, but now the unrelieved whiteness of the room hurt his eyes. The only break from it was the figures in black sitting on their thrones. Organization 13. The only ones that were missing were Xenmas, himself… and Roxas.

_Axel, Axel, how good to see you again._ The sweet, female voice crooned to him, and he swallowed hard as he recognized it.

"Larxene… you're _dead_." Axel shook his head, gripping it with one hand. "This is a bad dream. A very bad dream!" But his denial had no power, and several of the dark figures floated down from their positions to confront him more directly.

_You would know, traitor… and want to make a bet on that?_ Luxord's ghostly, mocking laughter filled his ears as the Gambler of Fate sat back on his throne. _We're just as real as anything here._

_How could you betray us, Axel?_ Saix slowly pulled back his hood, meeting Axel's eyes. _I only wanted a heart. Was it too much to ask? Why, Axel?_

"Why not?" Axel replied sharply, gesturing with his chakra. "No closer, or I'll make you burn! And why not? We didn't mean anything to each other. You would have betrayed me in an instance if it had been to your advantage! That's what being a Nobody meant!" They had been incapable of caring for each other. Only Roxas had been different.

_Did it have to be that way? _Marluxia's ghost spoke next, gesturing with his scythe. _We were allies, comrades. But you didn't care about us and we didn't care about you…what came first, the chicken or the egg? Could it have been different if you had cared?_ Axel shook his head to clear it. It wasn't true, he knew it. If he'd cared for the other members of Organization 13, he'd have just been a fool.

And yet…

_If you had only tried… I liked you, you know? You had the devil inside and so did I. We could have had a thing._ Larxene whispered, her shade trailing a finger over his shoulder. Axel jerked away, shocked. There was no physical mark, but her touch burned like acid. _We'll never know now, will we? You never even tried…_

_Why did you kill me, Axel?_ Vexen asked sadly. _I didn't want to die. My experiments weren't done yet. I said that to you… begged you not to kill me. Do you remember?_ Axel swallowed, remembering the panic in Vexen's face as he had uttered his last words. "I don't want to…" He had felt no guilt then, but he felt it now.

"Marluxia ordered it! It wasn't my fault!" But that didn't matter. Nothing mattered but the storm of emotion that was growing around him, and he was the eye of the hurricane. The ghosts closed in, buffeting him with their agonizing touches until the guilt and pain and fear was all there was in the world. He tried to fight, but his chakra struck nothing and his fires fizzled out in the nightmare that wouldn't end.

"Enough." The hollow voice echoed throughout the chamber, and abruptly the ghosts of the past froze. Axel collapsed, head down as he trembled in reaction. He looked up as heavy footsteps rattled against the floor, and blinked at the suit of armor walking towards him. It walked through the members of Organization 13 as if they didn't exist, and they vanished at its touch. Until they were all gone but the shade of Larxene, standing beside him. The armor stopped in front of Axel then idly waved a hand through Larxene, and she vanished as well. "These are ghosts of your heart, given life by this place, nothing more." Axel thought about that a moment.

"That… wait, that doesn't make any sense. I didn't have a heart back then. My heart can't remember this." But the Footman shook his head, denying Axel's words.

"Your heart is not your own, and it will never fully be. That is not bad or good… it merely is. But your heart gives you emotions, and sets them to the memories of what you were. You are guilty, are you not? You regret your betrayal. You regret what never was." The Footman's voice was ghostly, hollow, yet… compassionate. Axel took a deep breath, and thought about the past. Yes… he did regret. But…

"It's stupid. They would have killed me in an instant if I had shown this weakness. Only Roxas was different." The Footman was silent for a moment, then nodded slowly.

"Yes. But the heart is often not logical. This is a very dangerous place. Beings like you and me were not meant to live here. We cannot even exist here for very long. You must find Kairi first, then Sora, and then you must follow the shining path to your freedom." Axel stared at the Footman.

"You know what this place is? Where Kairi and Sora are? Tell me! Tell me what's happening." Axel demanded, and the Footman seemed to shudder. Axel stared in horror as a finger of the armor fell off, hitting the floor with a dull clatter.

"I do not have much time but I will try… this is the Land of Nothing and Everything. Nothing exists here but what lies in your heart and soul. For those with darkness in their hearts, all their desires are fulfilled… and in so doing become dust and ashes. Eventually, the paradise becomes horror. For those like you, with some darkness but much light, you conjure up your own suffering from the guilt and pain in your heart. And for those like Kairi, who have no dark in their hearts, is the most dangerous fate of all… you will find her by wanting her. That is the only way. Desire alone can bring you what you want here…" More pieces of the armor were falling away. The Footman was disintegrating before his eyes.

"What will happen to Kairi? What is happening to you?" Axel asked urgently, desperate to understand. The voice was fainter but still audible.

"Kairi… will be shown… the light. I see… the light…" Axel leaned forward as the body of the armor began to crumple. "Remember… Axel… darkness devours the… heart… but light… takes… the… soul…" With a clatter, the armor slid to the floor, empty and meaningless. Then it began to rust, and as he watched it turned to nothing but dust. And finally, even that vanished.

Axel closed his eyes, concentrating on wanting to see Kairi. She was more Sora's friend than his… but he remembered her pretty smile, her cheerful friendship, and concentrated on his desire to see her again.

He didn't understand everything the armor had said, but he was certain of one thing. He needed to find Kairi.

* * *

"He's not coming back, is he Captain?" The Footman asked his Captain, and the Captain shook his head.

"No. We can't last long in that place, without a true body to anchor us. He is safely with the light." The Captain turned aside from the portal he had used to send another Footman's feet on a true road. It was not the first time he had sent a soldier to death, nor would it be the last.

"But if you had told the Writer…" The Captain stopped so abruptly the Footman almost ran into him.

"No. If she stopped writing, we would have no hope. Remember, Footman, we are but pawns in this game. It is our place to be sacrificed to protect the more important pieces. And finally, finally, _finally…_ we have a game worth dying for." There was a dreadful eagerness in the Captain's voice, but it inspired the Footman. After so long, the thought of merely continuing forever was more horrible than any death could be.

"Yes, sir." The Footman saluted, and the Captain nodded, satisfied.

Some things were indeed worth dying for.


	10. Kairi's Trial

"Sora? Axel?" Kairi turned slowly in a circle. "Where… where am I?" One moment she had been walking behind the two boys. Then she had glanced to the side and when she looked back they were gone. Now, she was standing on a dirt road under a hot sun. The landscape around her was grasslands, with thorny trees reaching towards the sun.

"Are you just going to stand there, miss? We have a long way to go." Surprised, Kairi jumped and whirled to see an old man standing behind her. He smiled, and she was suddenly aware of people walking down the road… so many people. They were chatting and laughing as they walked, happily passing her as they walked the same way. Despite herself, Kairi's feet began to move, and she walked beside the old man. The people walking with them, she noticed, were from all walks of life… the young and the old, rich and poor. There were women carrying babies, even pregnant women who seemed relieved to be there. No one seemed at all distressed by the heat, and she found that it didn't bother her either.

The small dirt road they were walking on met with a much larger road, and Kairi gaped for a moment at the flood of people walking down it. She had never seen such a tidal wave of humanity. And not just humanity… now there were others in the crowd. She saw lions from the Pridelands, hyenas, even a turtle being carried by a young girl. It seemed that everyone was going down this road. Everyone from all the worlds.

"You coming, young miss? We don't want to be late."

"No, we don't want to be late…" She murmured as she joined the throng. As they walked, she happened to overhear the lioness and hyena talking. It was a bit odd. They should have been natural enemies.

"So, what happened to you?" The lioness asked the hyena, who paused a moment to scratch his ear.

"Ate some bad food. You?" The lioness licked a paw thoughtfully before resuming her walk.

"I went into the river after a zebra. Said it wouldn't get away from me. Well… the crocodiles had other ideas." The lioness shook herself, a feline shrug. "Not that it matters now." For a moment, Kairi wondered what they were talking about, but only for a moment. There was something wonderful ahead, something unbearably glorious… and she was going to be part of it. She could feel it.

Axel and Sora never crossed her mind at all.

* * *

The Queen of Hearts scowled and shook her crystal ball. She had cast spells, growing progressively stronger with each attempt, but it did no good. She couldn't find any of them.

Her ball would only show her shadows.

* * *

"Oh miss, there it is. Isn't it so beautiful?" The old man spoke with intense longing, and Kairi could only gasp as she stared at the thing before her.

It was a pillar of light. All the light in the world. It seemed to fill the earth and sky with its radiance and as the people approached, they became translucent, an inner radiance glowing within them as the flesh vanished. Little sparks rose from the road, and floated into the light.

_It's so wonderful._ Tears blinded her as she walked forward, wanting to join the light more than anything she had ever wanted in the world. It was like every good thought she had ever had, every happy moment, distilled into the very essence of light. The old man vanished, but it seemed to be taking her longer-

A hand suddenly wrapped around her shoulder, pulling her back, and she cried out as the light seemed to dim. Who could do such a thing? Who was trying to keep her from the light?

_Kairi, no._ A woman's voice whispered in her ear, as Kairi tried to fight off the gripping hand. _It's too soon, please don't. Please._ Kairi finally turned away from the light to look at the person restraining her.

"Stop it! Leave me alone!" She cried, then blinked at the woman in front of her. She was made of pure light. Robes of glory surrounded her, and her flesh was as translucent as the other figures on the road. Her hair seemed to sparkle with radiance, and her eyes glowed with the light…

_Have you forgotten about Sora and Axel, Kairi? They need you. It's not time for this yet._ Her voice was like a warm caress. _A princess of the heart… oh Kairi, don't leave so soon. My people need you._ Tears filled her eyes, but she could not be so easily swayed…

"Sora and Axel need me… you need me… why can't I have something for myself for once? I want this so much." She turned back to the light, which was radiantly beautiful once again. "You can't stop me."

"Kairi! Don't do it!" Strong arms suddenly gripped her, and this time she couldn't pull away as they dragged her back.

"Axel? No, let me go! Don't you see how beautiful it is?" She cried as the former Nobody pulled her away. Axel was breathing hard as he looked at the light, but he resolutely turned her aside, holding her chin and forcing her to look at him.

"I see it. It's beautiful because it's death, Kairi. Don't you see? These people are all dead. That's… that's the place that souls go, Kairi, and you can't go there unless you're dead! It will rip the soul right out of your body. Don't you want to live, Kairi? Are you done already?" Kairi blinked at him. It felt like she was rousing from a dream.

"I… no. I'm not done. I want to have a family. I want to travel… I want more…" She shook her head, glancing back at the light. It was still beautiful, but now she understood what it meant. "Axel. Where is Sora? We need to find him." She gripped Axel's arm, finally turning away from the light and all it offered. It was beautiful, and someday she would join it… but not just yet. There were still things to do in the real, imperfect world.

"You just have to want Sora, Kairi. This place responds to our desires." Axel and Kairi both closed their eyes, and wanted, with all their hearts, to be with Sora.

They vanished from the road, and an angel stood behind, abandoned and forgotten. Then she smiled, and vanished into the light.


	11. Sora's Trial

Author's Note: This is just my take on the Kingdom Hearts cosmology. I think a duality between the heart and soul is more profound than just light. Hope you enjoy my take on things.

"…Ow." Sora slowly sat up, rubbing his head. "What happened?" One moment he had been jumping onto a hillock, the next he had landed on sand and fell, unprepared for the difference. "…" Sora gazed around, shocked, at his surroundings.

It was the Island, the place he had grown up and lived for most of his life. Everything was exactly where it should be… the pier, the palm trees and the houses. But Sora shivered as the sun dimmed and the wind blew cold. Something was very, very wrong.

"Of course something's wrong." He said out loud to himself. "You were walking in a swamp with Axel and Kairi, and now you're here. The Islands can't be here… what is this place?" He turned as a mocking laugh floated through the air. "Who's there? Show yourself!" The voice laughed again, and somehow… it was familiar. Sora knew he had heard the voice before, but he wasn't sure where. He didn't see the darkness that was beginning to bubble around his feet.

_Who am I?_ The voice of a young boy said mockingly. _Who are you?_

"I asked you first – OW!" A vine of darkness slid up Sora's leg, tangling and holding. He slashed at it with the keyblade, but it seemed to ignore the strike, sliding up further. "What…?!?"

_Very well._ The voice said calmly as more and more darkness looped around him and the keyblade dropped to the ground. A tendril slid around his throat, and Sora gasped as he grasped it, trying to tear it away. _I am you._

…_you…you…you…_ The word echoed in Sora's head before fell into darkness.

When he came back to himself, Sora felt different. As if in a dream, he felt himself sit, then pull his body to his feet. But there was no conscious effort involved. As if something else was directing him. Yet… not entirely. Sora tasted a wild, fey intelligence that wasn't much like his usual self but was just enough to be recognizable. Almost as if… he were a Heartless again. But he wasn't. His body was just the same.

_What is happening to me?_ Sora struggled to regain control, but his body only laughed… the same mocking laughter he had heard a moment ago. With a chill, he realized why he had recognized the voice. It was his own. _No!_

"Sora!" His body turned and smiled as Axel jogged up, smiling. "I've been trying to reach you. Good to see you're okay. You wouldn't believe what happened to me… have you seen Kairi?" He turned to look over the beach. "This is a pretty spot."

"It was my home, once." Sora heard himself say as he went to stand beside Axel. He sensed an amused malice from the dual intelligence in his mind, and tried to shout a warning. _Axel! Look out!_ But nothing came out but another laugh. Axel glanced at him, puzzled.

"Something funny?" Axel looking into the water, then shrugged. "Well, if you're okay, we'd better go find Kairi."

"One sec, Axel." He reached up to touch Axel's shoulder, and turn the taller red-head smoothly to face him. "There's something I want to do first, just once. Could you lean down a bit?"

_What do you want him to do that for?_ The real Sora asked the other Sora, and his dread only increased as it didn't answer. _Axel, don't do it!_ Something was wrong, wrong wrong _wrong._ But Axel seemed oblivious, surprised by the request but willing to humor his friend.

"Okay, now what-mph!" Axel couldn't have been more surprised when Sora pressed his lips firmly against his. It was almost the perfect kiss. Caught completely by surprise, Axel didn't resist, and their tongues touched for a brief moment. Caught up in the feeling of warm, almost hot lips under his, the real Sora forgot to worry about the second Sora. But the kiss ended all too soon as Axel pulled away, breathing a bit fast. "Oh… okay, Sora. We've been under a lot of stress and all, but I'm really not into, you know, kissing guys. Okay?"

"Okay." Sora smiled sweetly, too sweetly, and Axel suddenly frowned at his friend. "I wanted to try it just…" There was a wet, tearing sound as he materialized a dark sword in his hand. "…once."

_**AXEL!**_ The real Sora screamed as Axel tried to say something, his green eyes wide with surprise, and only coughed up blood. The blade had gone through the centre of his chest, and the dark Sora gave him a quick shove. He landed on his back with a thump, and a pool of blood began spreading, staining the white sand. Axel stared up into the sky, expression going slack and blank as the stain spread… _**No! NOOOOO!**_

"Why so upset? I left him his heart, didn't I? I could have made him into a Heartless and a Nobody again… erk!" The false Sora suddenly jerked as the real one tried to reclaim his body. "No… you can't have… hey!"

_You won't hurt anyone else! NO! _The mental battle made his body twitch like a marionette with cut strings, but suddenly the keyblade reappeared, summoned by Sora's desperate need. _I'll stop you… the only way I can!_ He aimed the keyblade at himself, intent on removing the dark heart from his body. And if his own had to go as well… so be it.

_No._ The keyblade vanished, and Sora fell to his knees, weeping in grief and rage. The second Sora laughed and tried to take his body again, but found it could not. Surprised, they both looked up to see a woman hovering in the air. Her body was pure darkness, and her eyes glowed yellow. She looked like a Heartless, but held the keyblade in one petite hand. _Axel isn't really here, Sora. He's saving Kairi. We thought you would be safer but it seems we were wrong._

"Wh-what... are you?" Sora turned to look at the dead Axel on the beach. He certainly looked real… but as he thought that, the body melted away. "What's… what's happening?" The second Sora was raging futiley, trying to break free, but was somehow being contained with iron force. "You look like a Heartless, but you're holding the keyblade." The woman laughed, but there was an edge of sadness to the sound.

_I am the opposite of a Heartless… I am a heart that is yet to be born. Only an oath I made, so long ago, still holds me in this twilight realm. Soon I will be free… oh Sora. The other you isn't real. He's all your fears of the darkness inside yourself given life. The only way to truly defeat him, without destroying yourself, is to embrace the darkness. I'm sorry. My other self and I thought you would have problems more like Axel's, not something this… profound…_ Sora shook his head, then gripped it with both hands, closing his eyes.

"I don't want to embrace the darkness! I don't want to become that monster!" He protested. But she shook her head.

_Fearing the darkness leaves you open to it. I must show you the true darkness of the heart._ The island melted away as if it had never been, and there was nothing but darkness. A darkness so profound that the only thing Sora could see were her glowing eyes. _Sora, Xehanort was right and he was wrong. Hearts are indeed born from darkness… but not the corrupt darkness of human hearts. This is the pure darkness. The eternal darkness from which all hearts take form. Close your eyes, and feel the darkness. You have picked this trial for yourself, and you must accept, or be ruled by the corruption…_

"Feel the darkness…" Sora acted on faith, and closed his eyes. Her voice was kind, and his heart said to trust her. For a long moment, he could feel nothing. Then… he felt the darkness.

_It's warm,_ he thought wonderingly as the dark Sora howled in his mind. _It's… comforting. Like a womb. It's not really dark at all! It feels like… like love._ The darkness felt like pure potential, like good things waiting to happen. It felt like life and love and everything in between. He opened his eyes and looked at the dark angel as the corrupt darkness in his mind faded away.

"Xehanort… he didn't get it. He thought darkness was evil, and it's not. That's what you mean?"

_Yes. You understand now. Xehanort touched the pure darkness when he opened the door and, in his corruption, was consumed._

"But I saw light when the door opened. What did that mean?" Sora wondered.

_It meant that without darkness there can be no light. Without light there can be no darkness. Hearts come from the darkness of life and souls come from the light of eternity… a soul without a heart is a pallid, hopeless thing and a heart without a soul is vulnerable to corruption. You have a good heart, Sora, but when it was separated from your soul you could not help but become Heartless. Only here, in the eternal darkness, can hearts like mine exist. I am so tired. Will Axel be here soon?_ Sora blinked at the dark angel, still holding the keyblade. She did seem weary… inexpressibly weary. As he watched, tears of gold slid down her cheeks.

"What is Axel to you?" Sora asked her, sensing that the answers were important. "And… why are you still here, if you don't want to be?"

_Axel… was nothing to me before. But now he holds the heart of my lost love. So long ago, so very long… such betrayal we endured. Oh, how I weep. I swore to guard the land and I have but my strength is failing. No more, no more… but I will see him one more time before I am reborn. Ah, _she sighed suddenly. _They come._

Suddenly, Kairi and Axel appeared in the darkness. They seemed to carry a radiant glow with them. They both looked around, taken aback by the darkness surrounding them.

"Sora! Are you okay?" Axel jogged over, and paused, looking up at the dark angel… than yelped as Sora almost knocked him down. "Hey, brat! Aren't you getting the idea that you're too heavy for that?"

"Axel…" Sora closed his eyes, hugging Axel more tightly a moment. He needed reassurance that his friend was alive, well, and right beside him. Although… he blushed and suddenly pulled away. "Kairi!" Sora said hastily to distract himself. "She said Axel was saving you… are you alright?"

"I'm fine Sora… um. What is she?" Kairi was looking at the dark angel apprehensively. But the angel only had eyes for Axel.

_Oh, my love, how long it has been._ She floated closer to them, but stopped as they stepped back. The keyblade vanished from her hand, returning to Sora. _Do you remember me? Do you remember my heart?_ Axel stared at her, trying to find the memories in his heart… but they would not come. It made him remember what the Footman had said… that his heart was not his own, and never would be.

"I'm sorry. I don't remember." He said as gently as he could, and she seemed to slump for a moment before lifting her head.

_It was too much to ask… my name was Kaelglas. I was your priestess and you were my knight… we rode to war together on the shifting sands. What battles we fought! But we were betrayed. We saved our land by breaking all the laws of nature and we have paid… oh how we have paid… and the land has paid. The cycle has been broken for so long. We have all suffered but now there is a chance… such a slender chance but it is all we have. It is time to walk the road of glory together._

_Together. _ They all turned to see the angel of light, garbed in glory, appear behind them. Her radiance filled the darkness. _We will show you the road of glory together._

Laughing with joy, the two angels joined hands. Their hands seemed to melt into each other, and then a road formed, stretching off into the distance. It was shifting light and darkness, a shadowy thing that they hesitated to step on… but the angels ran up it, laughing, and they could only follow. It was solid underfoot but slippery, and they often had to help each other to keep going.

Light suddenly flared around them, and abruptly they fell out of the air into Disney Castle. For a moment, they heard ghostly laughter and saw the angels… but then they were gone.

* * *

_Amberglas bit her lip as she considered, and then added another line._

_But time did not matter in the road of glory, and Kaelglas would not be reborn for some time… she would be Axel's first child. And at last, the cycle would be complete._

* * *

The Captain looked at the castle. The ice on the stained glass windows was beginning to melt. But the day was colder than ever. If any of the townsfolk had seen it, they would have thought it distinctly unnatural. The Lancers and Footmen, with a much better understanding of what it meant, would have agreed.

"Will they find us in time, Captain?" The Footman asked worriedly, and the Captain nodded.

"The little writer will not let them be too late. But we must stand ready to aide." He turned resolutely away from the windows and their horribly implications. If nothing was done before the ice melted completely…

The wind they felt now would be warmth itself compared to what summer would bring.


	12. The Kitchen Sink

"Well, you guys can stay here if you want." Axel said firmly. "But I'm going to Traverse Town. I've got stuff to do, stuff I can't do here." Sora and Kairi exchanged confused glances.

They were in Disney Castle. They had checked up with Goofy and Donald, who hadn't found anything but had visited almost all the worlds they had already been to. Sora and Kairi had thought they would eat, rest, then begin searching again. But Axel seemed to have other ideas.

"Well… what do you want to do? Maybe you can do it here?" King Mickey asked reasonably, and Axel suddenly grinned.

"Ya think? Okay. I'm going to…" He paused for a moment as his audience listened intently. "…Get totally, utterly, completely, pie-faced drunk. Then I'm going to try to get laid. And then, if I can't do that, I'm going to get in a fight. Tomorrow, I'll want to die. That's what I want to do." The two youngsters looked at him wide-eyed, and King Mickey seemed taken aback.

"Oh… no, Disney Castle isn't really the place for that." It was difficult to imagine pie-faced drunk and Disney in the same sentence.

"Why do you want to do that? It sounds awful!" Sora exclaimed. "…I mean, besides the getting laid part." He added and Kairi slapped him on the shoulder. Axel waved one hand dismissively.

"It's an adult thing. You'll understand when you're twenty and have had a totally shitastic day." And it had been really, really crappy for him. While he knew the accusations were ridiculous, he couldn't help but be shaken by what had happened in the Land of Nothing and Everything. Something in his heart told him you should always be loyal to your allies… Axel rubbed his chest ruefully. But his heart had never had to deal with Nobodies. That was the catch. "Alcohol makes everything better." Sora suddenly brightened.

"So does ice cream! Axel, there's a new ice cream parlor… they've got something called a Kitchen Sink. It's a HUGE ice cream sundae. We could all get one and share it. I could use some cheering up too." Axel paused. Ice cream?

"I don't know… how much ice cream are we talking about?" That had a certain appeal. Sora gestured widely.

"Lots! They serve it in a kitchen sink. That's why it's called the Kitchen Sink." Axel's eyes widened at the picture. A kitchen sink?

"How do they get it to the table? How does it stand up?" He was captivated by the image. "That sounds really good actually. Sure, let's go have ice cream."

* * *

Amberglas banged her hands together to warm them as she patiently waited in line at the apothecary. Frossan wasn't feeling well. Just thinking about it put a thin spine of fear into her heart. Winter was the dying time, and her uncle wasn't as young as he'd used to be. By no means was he old, but… not young. And it seemed like winter was harder to survive every year.

Her family wasn't the only one having trouble by any means. The line as at least a dozen people long, and the apothecaries look harried and unhappy. Amberglas bit her lip, hoping that didn't mean they were running out of herbs. The apothecaries were all minor mages who used their powers to create sun and heat to grow the herbs even in the dead of winter, so she'd never heard of them running out. Maybe it was just the demand and the weight of sorrow that went with it. Apothecaries were never poor but they had to deal with so many ill and poor people…

"Amberglas!" Mathira jogged up behind her, her breath puffing out in the cold air. Amberglas turned to smile at her, surprised and pleased to see her. "You're getting cordials too?"

"Willow bark tea and a sungrass cordial… Frossan isn't feeling too well and he has a bit of a fever. You?"

"The poppy seed tea for my sister," Mathira said with a shrug, and Amberglas winced slightly. That was a pain dulling brew but nothing was wrong with Mathira's sister but the loss of the baby. That was bad. "And some willow bark tea for mother. Oh… Celune's been asking about you." Mathira said, seemingly casual. Amberglas stiffened slightly, and then tried to relax.

"I can't imagine why." She muttered more to herself than to her friend.

"Probably because she's been your best friend for years." Mathira said with a bit of acid in her tone. "You know what you're worst character flaw is, Amber?"

_No, but I imagine you're going to tell me._ Her lips compressed to a tight line, Amberglas stared forward. She was sure that whatever Mathira had to say would be correct, but she just didn't want to hear it.

"You don't talk to people. You just bottle things up and never speak what's on your mind. Celune's always been sort of thoughtless… she probably didn't mean to shut you out entirely. You should talk to her about it." Amberglas suppressed the urge to smack her friend. Mathira could be insufferably smug when she was sure she was right.

"She knows where I live, Mathira." She said evenly as the line inched forward. "It's not like it's hard to find me if she wants me, instead of sending you."

"Well, a point. But you know how Celune is. Busy all the time." Mathira was clearly trying to encourage her, but it only fanned her anger.

_Why should I keep making allowances for Celune? She's made it abundantly clear that what I do is not nearly as important as what she does._ Amberglas could think of a dozen petty slights off the top of her head. She had let them slide in the name of friendship, but she felt that she had finally been pushed to far. The line stepped forward another person…

"You're doing it again." Mathira said, exasperated. "Shutting down on me. Tell me what you think!" Amberglas' head whipped around to face her friend.

"I think you need to stop _picking_ at me. I'm sorry you don't like it but I am who I am! I can't change the basic bits of me. Leave me alone… leave me alone." Her voice broke, near to tears, and Mathira was silent for a moment.

"I… I'm sorry, Amberglas." Then she grinned, a wan, unhappy grin. "That's my flaw… I'm a meddler and insensitive. Sorry."

"It's alright." Amberglas managed a smile back, although it didn't feel right. "I know you mean well. It's just…" She let that trail off, unable to finish the thought, even to herself. If she did, she knew she would cry and everyone would want to know what was wrong.

But when she was home, the cordials carefully stored in the kitchen and the tea brewing, she finally had to leisure to complete the thought.

_It's just that I don't like myself._ Amberglas thought, staring blankly at her hands as she sat at the kitchen table. _I don't like myself at all._

She vaguely remembered, as a child, having dreams about doing great and heroic things. She had wanted to be a battle priestess of the old type, riding to war on a white charger. Or perhaps a combat mage who could harness the fire and ice of the world… but then reality had come calling. Reality had taught her that she didn't like pain and was clumsy with weapons, even if she'd had someone to teach her. She had found out that priestesses didn't ride to battle anymore, and there were no battles in any case. She had discovered that battle mages no longer existed and even if they had, she had no talent with mage craft at all. And most of all, she had dreamed of being a happy, carefree person. Even as a child she hadn't managed it.

_I wanted so much more… _her vision blurred with held back tears, and Amberglas sniffled a moment. _I wanted… friends like Sora, Goofy and Donald. Friends who would really cared about me. I wanted to do great things._ A tear slid down her cheek. _And now I'm just a boring, responsible girl doing boring, responsible things. My friends' only care about what I can do for them and why should they care more? And who would marry a girl as boring as me? _

For a time, Amberglas stayed mired in her misery. Then the water started to boil, and she took a deep breath, pulling herself together enough to take it off the fire and poor it into the teapot.

_That's not really true, Amberglas,_ she told herself as her hands began the homely task of setting up supper. The rhythm to it was soothing. _You're… practical. Boys admire practical when they're looking for a wife. And dreams are for children, they never really come true. And Mathira does care about you, even if she's a badger. Even Celune cares a little if she's asking._ She ladled out the soup as Frossan shuffled into the room. He was looking a bit pale, but took the willow tea with a grateful smile. _You take good care of the house and your uncle. It's not like there's any great deeds to be done around here anyway, even if you could fight worth a damn._

But it was hard to eat. Her throat kept clogging, and finally Amberglas took her food over to her writing table. Sometimes, she knew that the sadness in her heart would make the writing sad… but sometimes she could tell that the writing would ease her heart instead.

She needed that ease.

* * *

"…I'm burping up ice cream." Axel said weakly from his spot on the couch. He was teetering in the zone between full and sick.

"I can't believe we finished all of it." Sora groaned from his side of the couch. Kairi, who had sensibly stopped eating when she was full, was out taking a swim in the pool at Disney Castle. "Axel… can I ask you something?"

"Sure. If I don't answer, I've gone into a food coma." Axel yawned, wiggling into a more comfortable position. The couch really felt very nice…

"Have you ever… um… kissed another guy?" That successfully got Axel's attention off his digestive tract and he blinked, lifting his head up to look at Sora.

"That's a pretty personal question, Sora. Why you asking?" Sora blushed, looking down. That was exactly what he didn't want to get into, but… he really wanted Axel's help.

"It's… that last place we were at. There was a copy of you and I… kissed him. Although it wasn't really me," He added hastily. "It was this thing in my mind, corrupt darkness." He winced, thinking about what had happened after the kiss, but didn't mention it. It hadn't been real anyway. Axel looked at him thoughtfully for a moment.

"Okay… well, in that case, yes. Demyx and Marluxia." Sora blinked.

"Marluxia? I thought you couldn't stand him." There had never been any love lost between Axel and the pink haired assassin. Axel smiled tiredly.

"I didn't say it was voluntary, Sora. Demyx talked me into it though. Let me guess though… you enjoyed kissing my copy and you're wondering if it means you're gay?" Embarrassed beyond words, Sora nodded mutely. That was what he was worried about. Axel yawned, blinking as he tried to stay awake. "Just think of it this way Sora. If you had to pick someone to kiss, me or Kairi, who would you pick?"

"Kairi." There was no doubt in Sora's mind at all. Axel grinned at his quick response.

"Then you're not gay. You're just fifteen and curious. But don't look to me for that… once was enough. I like the ladies." Sora looked relieved and a little disappointed… but mostly relieved. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to pass out." Axel closed his eyes… and opened them again as he felt a warm weight on his chest. Sora was hugging him, eyes closed and his head on his friend's chest. Axel smiled fondly down at him, closing his eyes again.

Sora was like a little brother to him, and he never wanted that to change.


	13. Risu

_Axel watched as his hands picked up a tiny shell and an equally tiny fork, and started prying the little mollusk from its shell. But his hands weren't his own. The skin was several shades darker and they were criss-crossed with the tiny lines of old scars._

"_It's a little embarrassing when they do things like this." He heard himself comment in a different voice. It was a touch deeper than his own._

"_They love you, and so they should." He looked up from his task to smile at the woman across from him. They were both sitting on cushions in a tent. The tent was fairly luxurious as tents went… the cushions were embroidered, there were a few rich tapestries on the walls and the table between them was inlaid with rich woods. But it was all practical… Axel could see that the tapestries would be light to carry, and the table was a carefully made type that could fold up for transport._

_The woman across from him was not, Axel thought, as pretty as Larxene had been. The comparison was inevitable though… the coloring was almost exactly the same, although this woman's eyes were a dark blue rather than green. But her hair was the same cornflower blond and she had the same perfect, peach colored skin. She was pretty but not a beauty… her nose was slightly crooked, her teeth were a little stained and she was flat chested. But she was also slender and athletic, and moved with a dancers grace as she poured them both coffee from a silver urn._

_Then she smiled at him, a smile that reached and warmed her dark blue eyes, and Axel suddenly knew she was more beautiful than Larxene could ever have been. His heart gave him a surge of warmth, and he felt himself smile back at her._

"_I'm not that special, love." He protested mildly as he ate the snail. She snorted as she picked up a chicken leg from the table and gave it a nip._

"_Compared to who? When a bunch of tents collapsed in that dust storm, you were out there helping dig up your soldiers. How many generals would do that?"_

"_Not many," He admitted, helping himself to a bit of the chicken. It was just as good as the snail, marinated in a spicy sauce then barbecued. Axel was a little puzzled by what they were talking about, then suddenly understood. Snails in garlic were not normal camp fare… his men had found them and brought them to the cooks to show their appreciation. His? No… the men his heart had commanded, a long time ago. "But I'm glad my brother isn't here to see this."_

"_Your brother is a twit." She said spiritedly, waving her chicken to emphasis her point. "An arrogant, self-centred prig. He'd make a terrible king."_

"_I won't disagree, love, but try to keep it down. You know the soldiers can hear you." She snorted again, but didn't disagree, and sipped her coffee. "I blame mother for the way he is, really." He added sadly._

"_It's partly just who he is, or he would have gotten the heart of the kingdom, not you." Then she sighed. "But I'll admit your mother has made things so much worse."_

"_It isn't just her though. It's the entire situation." He frowned and sipped his coffee. Axel reeled a little mentally at the taste… it was stronger than any he'd ever had before and black as death. Not how he usually took his coffee. "It's not that I regret being here… but father should never have married mother. I don't care if they were always in love, marrying grandpa's widow and adopting their son was idiotic." Her laugh was clear and sweet as birdsong, and Axel felt himself smile again. But his mind was trying to decipher the family relationship. It sounded bizarre._

"_Well, it's not everyone who can say that their half brother is also their uncle, with no incest involved."_

"_There's not many who would want to, either." He replied drily. "And mother babied him when the kingdom's heart passed him over, and father made that worse by favoring his own children. I wonder…" His tone turned thoughtful. "I sometimes wonder if the current problems are connected to the family situation."_

"_I don't see how your families problems, no matter how great they are, could be related to giant hostile bugs in the desert." She laughed and moved over so she was sitting beside him, and he put an arm around her waist, nuzzling her throat._

"_Hmm. You know what else I think?" He asked softly, as he gently nibbled on her skin, eliciting a soft moan._

"_You think that sex in a tent with at least a dozen soldiers listening is perfectly normal." She breathed in his ear, and he laughed softly._

"_No… well, yes. But actually, I was thinking that I love you Kaelglas."_

"_I love you too, my knight. Now make love to me, please."_

"_Your wish is my command."_

* * *

Axel groaned as the sun hit his eyes, and rubbed his face with one hand. He slowly blinked, pushing himself up on the couch. He could recall his dream in vivid detail... and blushed slightly, hoping Sora hadn't noticed any arousal. Then he frowned. Although he knew a bit about his heart now, and some of the interesting family circumstances surrounding it… he still didn't know his heart's name.

"I wonder if I'll have more dreams like that?" He asked the room. He wasn't afraid of them. Vivid as the dream had been, it felt like something that had happened to a stranger. He was still Axel and, if the Footman was correct, he always would be.

But it would be nice to know a bit more about his heart.

* * *

"Is it my imagination, or is it taking a lot longer than normal to reach the next place?" Kairi asked, looking over Axel's shoulder at the vehicle's instruments.

They had finally christened it Travel Happens. The vehicle, which had been happy enough without a name, hadn't objected. Axel frowned at the instruments. Although they were ridiculously simple… mostly point and click, and the machine seemed to understand verbal commands… there were a lot of things going on at the moment he didn't understand. But one message caught his eye. "Maintenance required. Oh, that can't be good." The vehicle shuddered and seemed to change course. "Huh… it's going somewhere in particular?"

The trip took even longer after that, but finally Travel Happens came to a halt. The canopy vanished, and all three of them looked around to find they had docked at some kind of station. It was floating over a strange looking, swirling purple void and looked like a ball of steel spaghetti. As soon as they had jumped out of the vehicle, an older man with dark brown hair walked up to them. He was wearing green goggles and a dark red jumpsuit with dozens of pockets. Strange items were sticking out of most of them.

"You're here for maintenance?" Without waiting for an answer, he ran a wand along the Travel Happens. "Hrm… a bit of engine trouble. An original Sedika, Class A, registered to… the Green Witch. All repairs and expenses to be paid onto account. Well, that makes things simple. This should only take a few hours. Are you planning to stay longer? If so we can move her over to a visitor berth as soon as repairs are complete." Caught a bit off guard by the rapid fire speech, Axel could only shrug

"We'll be staying a while, I guess." It seemed unlikely that the Writer of Destiny would be here… the Green Witch HAD to be the Queen of Hearts, so she clearly knew about this place. But still, they could check. The man nodded, and waved the same wand over them, to their surprise.

"Hmmm… unimplanted. You'll have to go to the visitor centre and get some datapads if you want to do anything. Tell them you're at berth 2069. Karo!" He bellowed at a young man walking by, who started and looked over. "Take them over to the visitor centre."

"Yes sir. This way, sirs and madam." The young man smiled blandly and gestured for them to follow. The walk was somewhat boring. All they saw were more berths, and more ships with people hard at work on them. Although some of them had floating screens open and floating beside the vehicles, which was interesting. Suddenly, Sora stiffened.

"Riku!" He broke away from his startled friends and ran over to a man with very familiar silver hair, hard at work on a vehicle. "Riku, what are you doing here? How did you…" Sora trailed off as the man turned to face him. While he was similar enough to Riku to be a brother, he was clearly several years older. He was wearing black goggles that he pushed back to reveal bright green eyes. "Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you were someone I knew." Sora started to back up, blushing, as the other man stared at him with an unreadable expression.

"Wait." His voice was cold and sharp. "Who are you?" His gaze slid from them and fixed onto the young man escorting them like a hawk fixating on a mouse. "Karo, go back to work."

"I'm escorting them to the visitor centre." He said stiffly. The older Riku nodded.

"I will take care of that. Return to your tasks." Their eyes met for a long moment, and Axel lifted his eyebrows at the invisible battle of wills. Clearly, the younger man didn't see the silver haired one as any kind of authority figure… but Axel privately thought that the older Riku was not a man to cross. He reminded him a little of Xaldin, and a little of Marluxia… cold, serious and with a potential to stab you in the face. But the younger man seemed to disagree… still, he finally looked away.

"Have it your way Risu." Tone hard with dislike, the young man turned and walked away. Axel and Sora exchanged a glance. Risu?

Once he was certain the other man was out of earshot, Risu spoke again. "You know someone who looks like me and is named Riku? Is he younger than me, or older?" He seemed very interested in the answer, looking at Sora intently.

"Uh, he's younger than you." Risu seemed pleased by that answer. Axel decided to speak up.

"So do you know Riku then?" On the surface, it seemed unlikely. But Riku could have gone some strange places when he was lost in the darkness.

"Not personally. He's my youngest brother." Risu seemed completely oblivious to the surprise he called all of them, and continued matter of factly as several jaws dropped open. "He was a fourth child, on a special license. So he was adopted out before he was born. But his cryo chamber was lost in transit. I've always hoped he was alive somewhere." Risu paused a moment, looking over all three of them thoughtfully. "Forgive me, but you seem to be from less advanced worlds… has Riku been living on a similar world?" His tone was casual, but Axel crossed his arms, feeling more than a touch suspicious.

"Why do you want to know?" Something was off, he could smell it. Risu tapped at his goggles absently as he met Axel's eyes.

"I would like very much to meet my brother. But if he's living on one of our worlds, I would only cause trouble for him." Risu explained blandly.

"He's in Traverse Town, taking a summer course." Sora volunteered. A smile played over Risu's lips, and Axel had to fight the urge to glare at the brunette. He didn't think Risu was lying, precisely… but there were a hundred and one ways to skin the truth to the bone without actually lying. "We could take you to see him." Risu's smile widened.

"That would be wonderful. But, before we go… what has brought you here?" There was a beep behind him, and Risu moved his hand to switch something off without looking.

"Well, we're looking for stories…" Sora started launching into the things they wanted, but was soon cut off by Risu's laugh. Kairi and Axel exchanged a glance at the bitter, cold sound while Sora looked confused.

"You're not going to find that here. Fiction of that sort is outlawed. You could get in trouble even for asking." Axel blinked at that, and Kairi and Sora both looked more than a touch shocked. A world that outlawed fiction? "You might as well leave as soon as they fix your vehicle, if that's what you want."

"You're sure?" Axel pressed, still not trusting this strange Riku double. But Risu just smiled at him.

"Oh, I'm very, very sure." The bitterness in his tone was convincing. Axel nodded thoughtfully, considering Risu for a moment. He was sure the other had some kind of ulterior motive in wanting to leave this place, besides meeting a brother he'd never seen. But then… Axel had a distinct feeling they'd only touched the tip of a very unpleasant iceberg of reasons why anyone would want to leave this place.

"Well, if you're coming along, I'm Axel. This is Sora and that's Kairi. Got it memorized?" Without waiting for a reply, Axel turned his back on the silver haired man. "Let's go see how they're coming on the Travel Happens."

The sooner they left this place, the better.

* * *

With Risu's help on the vehicle, it was done even faster than the man had predicted. The first sign of trouble came when he leaned over to quietly talk in Axel's ear.

"Get in the backseat. I'll take the driver's spot." Axel frowned, but leapt into the second spot while Kairi and Sora took the back. As soon as Risu jumped into the vehicle, the older man with brown hair noticed.

"Risu! What are you doing? Get out of there immediately." Risu's laughter was as cold as an ice flow and full of contempt as he replied.

"I'm tendering my resignation, superior." Axel started slightly at the unintentional echo, the name the Nobodies had called Xenmas. "Fare ill." The canopy appeared and the vehicle slammed out of its moorings so fast that Sora and Kairi yelped, and Axel had to hold on for dear life. Fortunately, straps immediately spooled out… something that had never happened before, but they'd never tried to test what the vehicle could do.

The next several minutes were a complete nightmare to all of the passengers. The vehicle dipped, swerved and dodged as several other vehicles tried to catch it in tractor fields. Risu was laughing wickedly as he wrung every drop of speed and maneuverability he could out of Travel Happens. Finally they lost their pursuers, and punched through the darkness to Traverse Town.

"That was fun." The vehicle vanished, and Kairi started to retch as she fell to her knees on the ground. Sora wobbled on his feet, looking like he was about to be sick. Only Risu was unaffected. He glanced at them and smiled. "Sorry to deceive you slightly, but I knew they wouldn't be willing to just let me go."

"Risu?" Axel said with a smile, then as the other turned to look at him, punched him in the face. The silver haired man dropped to the ground, stunned.

Axel didn't like being used.


	14. The Beginning of the End

"I think," Risu said meditatively, inspecting the blood on his fingertips. "That's the first time in my life anyone has hit me."

They were at Hayner, Olette and Pinch's special place. The trio was elsewhere… where, they had no clue, but it was a nice private spot for now. A good spot for some serious questioning.

"You must have led a sheltered life then." Axel commented, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms. Risu lowered his hand with a sigh. The marks on his face had healed with a preternatural speed, and now no one would have known he had been hit hard enough to draw blood a few moments ago.

"Not really." Risu said dryly. "But everyone in my world is conditioned against antisocial behavior. It is literally impossible for me to strike someone physically." Risu shifted, scratching his back against the wall as Sora blinked and Axel raised his eyebrows. "There are plenty of other things I can't do, but I doubt you want the entire list."

"Not really. So why did you want to leave? And don't say you just want to see Riku." Axel wasn't going to buy that even if it was offered half price and wrapped in bacon. Risu smiled faintly, then shrugged.

"I do want to see him… I've always hoped he was alive, doing better, and different from the rest of the family. But really, I've wanted to leave for years, you just offered me the opportunity. You see," His tone turned bitter and cold again. "My society is very strictly defined and roles are tightly enforced. I'm a Demirene caste, a technician and machine telepath. Which is fine, but I also have an anger problem." Risu paused for a moment, then shrugged. "Personally, I suspect that the conditioning against violence has made my anger problem worse. Exercise helps somewhat but… mmm. In any case, I've always despised my life. It's impossible to hide that kind of anti-social negativity from the psychs, so I've failed almost every citizen wellness test. Everyone is aware of that, which makes things difficult." He idly tapped the crate he was sitting on with the tips of his fingers. "I know nothing will help with the conditioning, but I am hoping I might be able to find certain things here."

"Like what?" Axel felt slightly more sympathetic to the silver-haired man. He tried to imagine Xaldin, with his volcanic temper, or Marluxia, who could be equally explosive, unable to even strike out. The frustration would have to be soul-twisting. Risu shrugged.

"A place that might appreciate my skills… I can fix anything, you know. It doesn't matter how primitive or advanced it is, I can figure it out. My efficiency reviews have always been clear green." Risu seemed to take a forlorn pride in that. "The freedom to pick where I live and what I do. Perhaps a man or woman who would be receptive to my attentions… Perhaps even, someday, being my own boss. Although that might be shooting rather high." His lips twisted into an ironic smile. "But in my world, it would be unthinkable."

"Well, you shouldn't have too many problems in Traverse Town. The machine shop is always looking for good people. But I want to know, how did Riku end up on Destiny Island?" Kairi was quite curious about that. "And what did you mean when you said he was a fourth child and adopted out at birth?" Risu frowned.

"Families are only allowed three children in the worlds my people claim. But some families have fertility issues or are same sex or, well, all kinds of things. So they want to adopt. So people are allowed to apply for a special license to have an extra child for adoption… and receive a payment once the child is placed." Risu smiled grimly. "My parents were more than happy to volunteer. The ship containing Riku's cryo-capsule was lost, though… that happens sometimes, although it's rare. But cryo-capsules can endure almost anything. He probably floated through the darkness before he finally washed up in a world."

"Riku was found on the beach," Sora volunteered. "That's what I heard, anyway." Risu nodded.

"That makes sense. What kind of… summer course is he taking?" Risu sounded simply curious this time.

"He's learning about sculpture from a local artist. He's getting pretty good at it." Kairi replied, and Risu looked pleased. Axel blinked, trying to imagine Riku doing sculpture. It actually wasn't that difficult. Somehow, it didn't seem surprising that Riku might have artistic talents.

"Sculpture. Fascinating. I really would like to meet him." Risu sounded sincere. But… Axel fixed him with a stare.

"I don't trust you." He said bluntly, and Risu suddenly laughed. It was the same chill, bitter laughter they had heard before.

"You'd be a fool to trust me, or anyone from my world. When lies are manipulation are the only avenue of resistance you, it's what you learn to do." He offered them a cold, hard smile. "Although I was never actually that good at it."

"Your world must have been a horrible place to live." Kairi said gently, and Risu's smile softened a bit.

"Most people seemed to enjoy it… but I always thought so." Axel nodded thoughtfully. He still didn't trust Risu at all, but he wouldn't have wanted to live in a world like that either.

"We'll take you to see Riku." Sora jumped to his feet. "I bet he'll be glad to find out he has a brother!"

"I just hope he doesn't want to meet the rest of the family." Risu murmured almost inaudibly, but Axel heard and wondered what was wrong with the rest of the family. But it wasn't really his business… and hopefully Riku wouldn't end up having to deal with anything too unpleasant.

Hopefully.

* * *

Amberglas considered her page for a moment, then turned to the chalkboard of names beside her. She carefully added Risu to the list.

He wasn't the nicest character she had ever made, but he wasn't actually bad either. He'd just had a hard life, and maybe she would write about him more someday.

"Amberglas, have you heard the news?" Frossan asked. He was still at home recovering, but was feeling much better. She looked up with a smile, waiting for him to continue. "Daskyn was out hunting near the old castle, and he says he saw new Lancers!" Amberglas blinked. There were no new Lancers… they had just always been there. No one could remember a time when the King's Lancers hadn't patrolled the roads and kept the peace. "Well, not exactly new. But he says he saw the armor of battle priestesses, the empty robes of battle wizards and even leather armor of Southern warriors! All empty like the Lancers."

"Well, it makes sense that there would have been Lancers in the South too, and they always had more battle mages than we did. And they wore leather armor." Amberglas pointed out reasonably, then frowned. "Although I thought battle priestesses were a Northern thing." And she had never seen the old priestess armor among the Lancers before. It was fairly distinctive, if the old stories were correct… lighter than men's armor with the symbol of light and darkness enameled onto it. Women were considered uniquely suited to channeling that power, although battle priests had existed too. "That's very odd though, that he would have seen them. It sounds like the Lancers are gathering." A small spike of uneasiness ran through her.

"That's what Daskyn said it looked like. A great camp of Lancers. And he also said the ice on the windows of the castle was melting. If I weren't sick, I'd go see it myself. Perhaps you should go, Amber, since the Lancers actually spoke to you." She started slightly at that suggestion, and looked at her papers. Perhaps it would be good to take a break-

_No little writer. Finish the story. There's not much time._ Her imagination supplied the thought couched in the voice of the Captain, and she blinked. Not much time? There was always time to write.

Frowning slightly, she picked up her pen. Maybe it was time to finish the story.

* * *

Elsewhere, the Lancers of the world had gathered. Long dead priestesses were channeling strength from the light, mages were supporting them and the ice on the windows was still melting. It was possible, now, to see something moving behind the glass.

"Did she get the message, sir?" The Footman finally asked.

"I hope so, Footman. There's not much time left." The Captain replied, watching the windows as a bit more ice melted.

_Not long now._ All the Lancers backed away as the voice whispered in their minds. The Captain managed not to flinch, but it was hard. The voice was like rotting meat, and left a stench in the mind. _Not long now…_

* * *

"Well, this really sucks." The three friends were standing in front of a library. A library whose doors were stubbornly staying closed. There was a notice posted on the doors. "What does that say?"

"It says it's closed for the yearly dance festival. Dance festival? That sounds like fun." Sora was really having fun with all the adventuring. It had been too long since the last time he had traveled between worlds, and being around Axel and Kairi all the time was great too. "We could just stay until it's over, then go to the library."

"That sounds good to me," Axel said, running a hand through his hair. "Let's check this place out." It was a beautiful place, really. A huge city on a large island, the buildings were made of gold brick and decorated with flowerpots. Although quite a bit of it was looking more than a trifle run down. And a lot of the city seemed to go up… he wasn't sure why the buildings had been built that way. Natural cliffs, perhaps.

If they had happened to look at the walls of the houses on the street, they would have noticed that one of them was plastered with WANTED signs. And if they had looked a bit more closely, they might have noticed that one of them was for a man with bright red, spiky hair and a cheeky grin, and it was an impressive amount.

But they walked by and didn't see.

"What's going on over there?" Axel pointed to what looked like a lynch mob forming. They were chasing a very strange looking man with a bizarre goatee and heart shaped glasses. The lynchers were all in uniform, however, so he could only assume it was local justice at work.

"Whatever it is, we don't want to have anything to do with it." Kairi said firmly, looking at the map she had bought from a vendor. "The dance area is this way." Sora and Kairi started off, but Axel happened to glance back at the departing mob.

And saw one of the uniformed men look at him, then consult a paper in his hand, then call something to the hind end of the mob.

"Uh oh." Axel muttered as that group suddenly started to run towards them. He hadn't done anything, but he had actually been the target of a mob once as a Nobody and he knew they could definitely hurt. He turned and grabbed Sora and Kairi's shoulders. "Run!"

"What did you do?" Kairi yelled at him as they ran up a staircase. A mother with a child saw them coming, blanched, and yanked her child against the wall.

"Nothing! They decided they didn't like my face!" Axel yelled back, trying to think of a way to outwit the mob. Mobs have an IQ of the lowest member divided by the number of mobsters, so it shouldn't be hard… except that he couldn't think of any way out of this street. It was all residential buildings and if they entered one they would be cornered. And the steps kept going up.

"Then why are we running?" Sora yelled just as a flowerpot to their right exploded.

"Because they're shooting at us! Now shut up and run!" Saving their breath, the threesome ran up the stairs and-

Axel and Kairi, in the front, stopped abruptly as the stairs ran out. They were standing on the edge of a precipice.

"Shit-" Axel summoned up his chakram… just as Sora, looking behind him at the men with the rifles, ran into Axel and Kairi from behind. "SHIT FUCK NO!" Kairi screamed as they all tumbled out the stairwell.

_That ball… we're going to hit it!_ There was a floating disco ball in the middle of the air. He had no idea how it was staying up and didn't care… it gave him an idea. Acting instantly, he grabbed Kairi in an iron grip with one hand and prayed Sora had some kind of grip on her. They hit the ball with stunning force, and he slammed his other chakram into the ball. It wasn't a climbing claw and wasn't gripping well, but their demise was held off for at least a moment. _Okay… and now what?_ He looked down and was relieved to see that Sora was clinging to Kairi's waist. "Sora! Can you see anything we could safely land in? A pool?" The ball was rocking with the force of their impact, swinging in a wide arc. Axel wondered if they could direct that. Probably, but he was worried about his chakram coming lose.

"Yes! We just went over it!" Sora shouted back just as a burst of fire blossomed on Axel's shoulder. He grunted as if he'd been punched, and looked down at the bloom of red.

"Axel!" Kairi shrieked as she saw the blood, and gripped him harder. Which was definitely a good thing since he was having a bit of trouble feeling that hand. _It's this damn ball… I'm a perfect target._ And there wasn't a thing he could do about it.

"Don't worry about it! Sora! Tell me when we're over that pool!" He had no idea if it would be deep enough to cushion their fall, or even if the height was just too great… water wasn't really very soft when you fell into it from a large height. He grunted again as pressure slammed him in the side. It didn't hurt, only felt cold, which Axel thought was a very bad sign.

"Now Axel!" Axel yanked the chakram out of the ball, and they all fell. The fall seemed to take forever and Axel landed badly, the air knocked out of him and disoriented. But someone grabbed him and dragged him to the surface. It was Sora… Axel started to cough and sputter, gasping out the water he'd breathed in the landing.

"Wow, that was amazing! And we're all alive!" Axel blinked at the brunette, then laughed before coughing again. He was starting to feel cold all over.

"Silly. Just because you're going to live…" Axel slid down the side of the fountain, and Kairi was by his side, yanking off his jacket.

"Sora, help me! He was shot." Sora hadn't seen, being lowest on the daisy chain. "Axel, stay awake." Kairi pulled out the staff Chromie had given her, and concentrated as Sora stripped away the cloth. Sora sucked in a breath as he saw the amount of blood.

"Kairi, he's been shot twice." Sora touched Axel's forehead, his eyes moist. His friend's eyes were half-closed. "Axel, please, stay awake. You need to stay awake!"

"I'm tired Sora. We can always meet in the next life…" Axel murmured softly as the bronze staff in Kairi's hands hummed. It was getting hot, clearly unable to channel enough healing power to fix everything as quickly as it needed.

Suddenly, the amulet on Sora's neck seemed to jerk. Sora reached into his shirt to pull it out, and stared as it turned into an orb of light, floating into the sky… and became a keyhole. Sora pulled out his keyblade and aimed at it, unlocking the door… he didn't know to where, but it had to be somewhere important.

A door appeared out of nowhere and the crowd that had gathered gasped. It looked like it was made of stained glass, and the pattern was the same as the amulet… stylized frost and stylized fire.

"Someone can help us here, I know it!" Acting with the certainty of his heart, Sora grabbed Axel and with Kairi's help, dragged him through the door.

It slammed behind them with finality, then vanished.


	15. The Conclusion but not quite

As soon as they were through the gate, hard but gentle hands gripped Sora's shoulder. He looked up, startled, into glowing green eyes.

"Put him on the ground." A hollow, female voice ordered. Sora and Kairi hastily obeyed, staring at the armor in front of them. It was completely empty, but hammered into a female shape. Instead of a helm, there was a silver circlet set with a blue gem. Under that the green eyes floated in the air, seemingly part of nothing. She rested one hand on Axel's shoulder, her other holding a long silver staff. Her hand and the staff flared with silver light. "There is too much damage. He stands at the gates of the road of glory."

"He can't die again. He can't!" Sora's voice broke as he looked down at Axel, kneeling beside him. There was so much blood, and his breathing was slowing… but the armor ignored him, turning to look at someone else.

"Commend my soul to the light, Captain." The female voice commanded, tone stern and resolved. The Captain raised a fist in salute to her.

"Go garbed in glory, Priestess." The circlet seemed to nod, and she placed her hand on Axel's shoulder again.

The light flared, but kept building until Sora and Kairi both had to close their eyes and look away. When it cleared, Axel's breathing was strong… and the armor clattered to the ground in a clash of steel. As they watched, astonished, it began to rust away. In a matter of moments there was only dust… then not even that. The only thing that remained was the silver staff, which the Captain bent down to pick up.

"Oh… ow." Axel muttered, opening his eyes and pushing himself into a sitting position. "What happened-ack!" Sora promptly knocked him down again with a vigorous hug. "Brat!" Kairi smiled, kneeling beside them and putting an arm around Axel's shoulders. He was dear to her too, after all the time they had spent together.

"So glad you're alright." Sora hugged Axel even tighter for a moment, and Axel laughed and patted his shoulder.

"It's okay Sora, I'm fine now. Hey… where are we?" For the first time, the three of them looked around and found themselves slightly intimidated.

They were in the middle of a crowd of disembodied armor, all of whom were watching them intently. There were more priestesses, all wearing circlets and carrying the same staff the one who had saved Axel had had. But there were also robes that reminded Sora of Merlin, carrying carved wooden staves or daggers etched with runes. There was leather armor that carried spears and bows, the Footmen in their light plate and mail, and finally the Lancers in heavy plate. It was a small army… and every part of it was looking at them.

"Greetings." A hollow, vigorous male voice greeted them as the Captain knelt down beside them, his armor creaking. "I am the Captain of the Lancers. You would be Axel, Sora and Kairi. Welcome to the Kingdom of Lost Hope." They exchanged glances. The name seemed a touch ominous. "As you can see, we sit before the Castle of Lost Dreams." The Captain waved at the fairy tale castle in front of them, and they blinked as they looked up at the soaring towers and walkways. The Captain turned his head a moment to examine the windows. The movement behind them was more pronounced, and there was only a little frost left.

"Wait, hold up. What's going on here?" Axel winced, touching the blood on his jacket. It was ruined for certain this time. "I owe you a lot for saving my life, but we're looking for the Writer of Destiny." The Captain's laugh was a touch sad.

"Yes, I know. And when you have saved us, I will take you to her. This is her world." Before they could react to that news, the Captain pointed a finger at Axel. "But first. What is your name?" Axel blinked.

"Axel… you have memory problems?" The Captain had just said his name, so why would he ask? But the Captain shook his head, the plume in his helm bouncing with the movement.

"Not that name. The name of your heart. Right now you are Axel, the Flurry of Dancing Flames, but your heart has another name and a power. There is no more time… you must remember, or you will die." Sora and Kairi stared at the Captain, but Axel looked over his shoulder at the castle.

It was familiar. He pressed a hand against his chest as his heart seemed to ache.

"This… isn't the Castle of Lost Dreams. It's the Castle of the North." The words slipped out, unwilling. But it was just words, and although he tried, he couldn't remember any name for his heart. "Can't you just tell me my name?" He had a feeling the Captain and the army around him knew. But the Captain shook his head.

"No. The name itself is nothing, but the power in your heart is everything." Hands suddenly gripped Sora and Kairi, and Footmen pulled them away from Axel. Axel's eyes narrowed and he called up his chakram in a burst of fire. Despite what they had done for him, this did not seem friendly. Sora and Kairi were both trying to pull away, but the strength of the armor was irresistible. Two mages moved forward, and waved their staffs. Flames suddenly sprang up around Axel, and they were not of his creation. "Name yourself, my prince, and find the power in your heart to extinguish the fires. Or you are lost."

"Damn it!" He spat out the words as he tried to control the fires, but he could not. The mages had them firmly in their grip, and as they moved closer he could feel the scorching heat. His own flames would not harm him but these he knew definitely would. _Remember. I have to remember, but how?_

"Talk to me, Captain! Tell me about the past!" There was a pause, then he could hear the Captain's voice through the roar of the flames.

"We met the enemy in battle at what had been Verglas Oasis. They began their assault at dawn-"

_And the air had seemed to blacken with swarms of the creatures. _Axel stared into the flames as something inside himself seemed to break, and the memories came rushing back. _Bows thrummed and hundreds of them fell to the ground, pierced, but the supply seemed never ending. The heavy maces of the knights were most effective as the Captain lead a charge on the heavier ground bugs that were scuttling towards them. Fire seemed to do nothing to the creatures, so the mages cast bolt after bolt of frost. Calling orders, he joined the charge and as they neared the enemy lines, unleashed the power of his heart._

_The chill heart of a northern winter exploded in that desert, and dozens of insects fell over dead as they were ripped by snow and ice. And behind him, the army roared a name._

"Dalgrae!" He shouted, as the red in his chakram became blue. "Fury of the North Wind!" A hurricane of ice erupted, with Axel as the eye, and tore the flames away. They dissipated with a shriek, and the two mages stepped back.

"You remember." The Captain sounded relieved, and Axel nodded as he looked at the bodiless suit of armor. He could remember the voice, and put a name to it.

"Yes, Graem. And if you ever do something like that to me again, I'm going to take your helmet and shove it up your ass. Got it memorized?" Axel asked, more than a touch peeved, and the Captain laughed.

"Your threat would be more meaningful if I had an ass." Glancing over his shoulder at the castle, he gestured to the two Footmen holding Sora and Kairi, who immediately let them go. "That staff… where did you get it, Kairi?"

"A bronze dragon named Chromie gave it to me." She answered, surprised. The Captain nodded thoughtfully.

"She was most wise. That is an initiate's staff, given to a young priestess. But as you saw, it can only channel so much power. Take this… you will need it." He offered her the silver staff the fallen priestess had used. "There is no time to prepare, but you will need to channel the light. Sora can channel the darkness of life through his keyblade, and you will both support Axel in the trial ahead. We cannot help. We are bound to the spell that keeps the evil in the castle contained… you must do this on your own." It was on the tip of Axel's tongue to demand to know why they had to help… but he paled as he remembered, hand going to his chest.

"I leapt off the castle to avoid it. Then Kaelglas sealed it with her life… my brother is still alive in there?" He whispered, staring at the stain glass windows.

He could remember it so clearly now. He had come home, successful in the war. There had been no hint of anything wrong until he had entered the throne room… and found the bodies of his family, bloodless husks that had been partially eaten. The power of his father's heart, half of the kingdom's heart, turned against him… he had only been able to run, but the way out had been blocked. Finally, Dalgrae had leapt from one of those beautiful, soaring towers rather than be caught and devoured by the parasite his brother had embraced. The parasite had been contained by Kaelglas spirit, caught beyond life but not passing into true death. But the angels were gone now, and he had to stop it before it could devour all life in this world.

"For a given value of life. Good luck, Axel." The Captain stepped aside, and the three of them hesitated a moment before walking to the castle gates. Axel touched the seal on the gates, a symbol of ice and fire, and it melted away.

This was the fate of his heart.

The castle was unnervingly quiet as they walked through the halls of white stone. The castle was, if anything, more beautiful on the inside than the outside. Vases and urns of pure white stone were filled with glass flowers, lightly frosted with ice. Statues stood on pedestals as they passed, and they each slowed at times to look at them. They were made out of what looked like ice and light and were more beautiful than anything they had ever seen. There were also tapestries on the walls, but those were showing the signs of age and rot, their vibrant colors dulled by time.

"Are you sure about this, Axel?" Kairi asked, shivering in the frozen air. The castle was achingly cold. "We can go back." Axel shook his head.

"You can, but I can't. This is why my heart came to me. It had unfinished business. And if I leave, everyone on this world is going to die. The thing in here… it's a parasite, and it's trying to devour the heart of the land." Axel stopped and turned to look at them. "I have to do this, but the two of you don't have to come." Although, given what the captain had said, he wasn't sure he could succeed without them. But Sora and Kairi both shook their heads.

"We're right behind you Axel." Sora grinned, grabbing Axel's hand. "Friends forever!" Kairi laid her hand over theirs, and for a moment Axel smiled.

"Friends forever."

_Until you die._ A voice whispered, and all three of them went pale. It sounded wet, sticky and somehow… rotten.

"Shut up." Axel replied with gritted teeth, and walked purposefully to the throne room. The doors swung open at his touch.

Inside was a room that should have been gloriously beautiful, a relic of a time when the kingdom had been prosperous. White marble sheathed the walls, and delicate columns tied firmly to a vaulted ceiling. There were more of the ice statues standing in alcoves on both walls, and there were more of the graceful urns and flowers. The floor had been carefully inlaid with semi-precious stones to form a beautiful, geometric mosaic.

It should have been beautiful, but it wasn't. The scattered bones and old bloodstains on that precious floor saw to that.

"Brother! It's been so long." The man standing at the end of the room didn't resemble Axel in the least… or the man he remembered in his heart. He was so pale his skin was almost translucent, and his eyes were a pale blue. His hair was a dark brown, and it looked dirty and unkempt. The man offered them a vague, meaningless smile, and Axel tensed at the look in his eyes. They looked completely insane, and real insanity could put a fist through a plank without blinking. "I'd ask how you've been, but I think you've been dead for a rather long time. It's a good look for you, that hair. Oh, where are my manners? In case you don't remember, I'm Arish." He giggled, a high, tittering sound. "I'd offer you some coffee but I think I ate the servants." There was a soft chuckle from the other voice, the one they had heard earlier, and Axel didn't doubt that was literally true.

"Hello, Arish." Axel replied with a smile as he called up his charkam. "I'm Axel, actually. Got it memorized? I'm here to kill you, so lets get this going." And he flung his chakram at the dark figure.

And was completely astonished when the mad prince caught them. It should have been impossible. The fires seared at his flesh, but Arish didn't seem to notice.

"Oh, brother, you'll have to do much better than _that_." And he flung them back with such force that Axel had to duck his own weapons before calling them back to himself.

_I need to use fire and ice with light and darkness supporting, like the Captain said._ Axel reminded himself firmly. Fire was the power he was used to using, but clearly that alone was going to be fatal here. _Okay…_ One of his chakram blazed blue while the other stayed red.

"Now you're learning." His mad brother said approvingly, and the battle was on.

It wasn't easy. Axel had to struggle to channel the power of frost at times, but it gradually got easier as the battle wore on. His brother was strong, agile and infused with a power that was greater than himself. But the light energy from Kairi augmented the cold, and the deep darkness of life from Sora seemed to make the fire burn hotter.

_The throne room is never going to be the same, _Axel thought with a feral grin as one of his chakram was deflected and sawed into a pillar. Several statues and vases had already been shattered beyond any hope of repair. _Hah!_

The end of the battle came quite suddenly, as Sora managed to get behind Arish. The mad prince howled as the keyblade struck him full across the back, and he slapped Sora away so hard that he hit the back wall of the throne room with a smash. But the distraction was enough for Axel to finally land a good, hard blow and pump the full force of frost and fire into him.

His brother screamed, and for a moment his eyes seemed sane and pleading as he stared up at Axel. But Axel remembered the scattered bones, many far too small for an adult, and the fire burned hotter. Soon there was nothing but ashes.

"Ow." Sora pulled himself up, rubbing his head as Kairi bathed him in healing light. "That hurt… it's over?"

"No." Axel said quietly, and the two youngsters looked at him. He was staring at the stained glass windows. They were still shadowed. "He was just the surface. The parasite is still here."

_How clever of you._ They all flinched as the stinking, rotten voice assaulted their minds. Then the floor heaved and buckled as tendrils exploded from it, tearing apart the white stone. _But I will have you now!_ Dozens of tentacles arrowed in on Axel, far too many to avoid. Kairi screamed and Sora called his name, but there was nothing they could do-

But then the monster screamed as the tentacles were impaled on splinters of ice.

"Keep them off me Sora!" Axel leapt through the tendrils as they tried to tangle him, but Sora slashed them away as Kairi defended them both with bolts of light. Finally, he knew where the creatures body was. It was like a giant bug, a horrible tick that had been gorging itself for years on the energies of the world.

_No, you cannot! Worthless flesh creatures! I will-_ What it planned to do was drowned out by a scream as Axel landed on its back and plunged both his chakram deep into its body. The flesh was soft and undefended, so much like a tick… but still thick. Light and dark amplified the power a hundredfold, but it still wasn't going to be enough.

But Axel could sense the Lancers now. The mages and priestesses were locked outside, but desperately wanted in. Feeling like he was in a dream, Axel reached out and summoned that power to him. The bug screamed like a soul in hell as its flesh finally caught fire and began to burn, and steam exploded from it as its blood alternately froze and burned.

Finally, it fell to the ground in a smoldering, disgusting heap, and Axel leapt off the corpse. The room was warm now, and as he looked at the windows he saw the sun shining through them.

"Is it over now?" Kairi asked shakily, and Axel grinned.

"It's over." He glanced at the body. "Except for one thing." Sora and Kairi both looked around for another threat. "How in hell will we get that thing out of the throne room?"

The laughter that followed was a touch hysterical, but heartfelt.

* * *

Outside, the backlash of the broken spell was immediately noticeable. The Lancers had waited for death and expected it… but they did not die.

Quite the opposite. The flesh bodies they had sacrificed so long ago were returned to them, and armor and robes suddenly into the shapes they had not held for centuries. Priestesses fell to the ground, weeping in gratitude, as mages stared at their hands wide-eyed. Dark skinned Southern lancers raised a cheer as they could finally lift their spears with real hands, and the Captain pulled free his helmet for the first time in centuries, looking at the castle.

The shadows inside were gone, and the windows gleamed in the summer sun like radiant jewels. A warm wind caressed them, and the snow underfoot was already beginning to melt.

At long last, they were free.

* * *

…_But the Lancers did not announce the new King to the people just yet. Axel would have to agree to take up that title, although even if he did not the kingdom would be well since it had a heart again. But first, that heart had to be secured from the one person who could reclaim it._

_So the Lancers took him to the Writer of Destiny._

"_I'm here for the Writer of Destiny?" Axel said with a grin to the girl who opened the door. "Have you seen her?" Stunned, the girl looked beyond him to Sora, Kairi and the Lancers._

"_I'm sorry, little writer." The Captain said compassionately but firmly as she went pale as milk. "You must come with us." A high whine crept from her throat as the girl backed away._

"_Hey, are you alright?" Axel said, alarmed by the look on her face, and reached out to touch her._

_Then, shocked beyond words, the Writer of Destiny fainted dead away._

Amberglas sighed as she wrote the last words. At last, the story was done. It smelled like spring was finally here, and if so there might be some good things in the market. At the least, there would be some eggs for a better price. She stretched, unkinking her back, then frowned as there was a loud knock on the door.

"Whoever could that be?" She said with a frown, then went to open the door. "How can I… help… you…" The words died in her throat as she looked into the face of a red haired man. Behind him was a girl and a boy with brown hair, and the Lancers… living Lancers.

"I'm here for the Writer of Destiny?" Axel asked with a grin, and Amberglas gripped the door with suddenly white knuckles, her mouth gone dry. "Have you seen her?"

_No…no…no…_ A high buzzing in her ears, Amberglas eyes sought out the Captain. He was exactly how she had pictured him alive… a tall young man with silvery blond hair.

"I'm sorry, little writer." His voice was compassionate yet firm, and Amberglas felt a scream rising in her throat. "You must come with us." A high whine escaped her throat as she struggled not to hyperventilate. _No!_

"Hey, are you alright?" Alarmed by the look of complete and utter horror on her face, Axel reached out to touch her-

And then, shocked beyond words, the Writer of Destiny fainted dead away.


	16. The Kraken

Axel peered at the Writer of Destiny curiously as they rode back to the castle. Captain Graem was carrying the unconscious woman in his arms, controlling his horse easily with his feet and legs. Axel rode beside him, with Sora behind him, and Kairi was behind another Lancer. He'd never ridden before that he could remember, but the skill had come naturally.

The Writer of Destiny was a slight girl, with bright copper hair. It was several shades lighter than his own and had been pulled back into a bun, with a few tendrils allowed to trail decorously in front of her ears. Her skin was pale and lightly freckled across her nose and cheeks. Her face was oval, with a straight nose, and he thought she would be very pretty when she was awake. At their brief meeting, he had noticed her eyes were a light grey.

Now those eyes were closed, and her head fell limply over the Captain's arm. For some reason, he had wanted to get her out of the house and back to the castle as quickly as possible. The girl's moss green gown flapped in the wind as they rode.

"Is she okay?" Axel asked again. He'd already checked, but wanted to make sure. Captain Graem nodded.

"She's fine. It was just a shock. I'm afraid I used her." Axel blinked at the regret in the Captain's voice.

"How so?" The Captain was silent for a moment.

"I asked her to write about the Lancers, but didn't tell her why." He gently moved the girl so her head was resting on his shoulder. "She had no idea, until we arrived at her door… that was not a kind thing to do, but I was desperate. And we are about to be even more unkind." Axel was silent then. He liked to think the Queen of Hearts wouldn't hurt the Writer, but he wasn't at all sure. He had driven a devil's bargain, but there was no choice now but to follow it through. "At least her uncle wasn't there, although he will panic when he arrives home."

"We're kidnapping her." Sora's voice was subdued, and Axel winced. He hadn't really thought about what would happen when they found the Writer of Destiny.

"Yes, we are," Graem agreed. "But it's necessary, and hopefully we'll be able to make it up to her later. Oh… her name is Amberglas."

"Amberglas." Axel tasted the name and decided he liked it. It had a nice sound.

Halfway to the castle, Amberglas coughed and stirred, lifting her head and glancing around uncomprehendingly. Axel noticed her eyes again… a soft, calm grey. But then they turned fearful as she realized where she was.

"Captain… why… where are you taking me?" She was attempting to be brave, Axel saw, and for a moment his heart went out to her. Then she looked around, and her lips parted. "You're real… you're all real." She went pale again, the freckles standing out on her cheeks. "You're taking me to the Queen of Hearts?" There was a brittle calm to her voice, control exerted over a roil of emotions. She turned slightly in the Captain's arms to stare at him, and her eyes demanded an answer.

"Yeah… sorry about this, but we have to." He answered, and she nodded slowly, meeting Axel's green eyes for a long moment. Then she turned to look back up at the Captain.

"You didn't _tell_ me." She said, her voice breaking. The Captain sighed… he had foreseen this reaction.

"I'm sorry, little writer, but I couldn't. Would you have been able to write freely if you had known?" Unable to pull away from him, she hid her face in his armor to hide the tears on her cheeks.

For the rest of the ride, she said nothing at all.

* * *

_Okay, Amberglas, get it together._ Amberglas told herself firmly as she stood waiting for Axel and the Captain to finish a low voiced discussion. _This was unexpected…_ a slightly hysterical laugh bubbled in her throat, but she suppressed it firmly… _but you've got to deal with it._ Her hands tightened into fists as she thought about what she needed to do.

The Queen of Hearts would kill her when she had what she wanted. Amberglas had no doubt of it… she'd already plotted the story in her mind. What she hadn't figured out was how the Writer in her story was going to outwit her. It had suddenly become a pressing concern.

A thought occurred to her, and she searched her pockets for her pen. She sighed slightly with relief as she found it… and a few pieces of paper she always kept to scribble ideas on. They gave her a hope. _If I'm the Writer of Destiny… it's time to use it._ She knew the Queen of Hearts was watching them with a crystal ball, but she had never defined the ball's limits. Pulling out her pen, she began to write in a shorthand she prayed would be illegible to the Queen of Hearts.

_The Queen watched them from her ball but, while it could pick up conversations it could not really hear whispers._

Stuffing her papers back into her pocket, she approached Axel with a tremulous smile. He smiled back encouragingly.

"Don't worry, we won't let her hurt you." He tried to reassure her, which made her want to giggle, although it wasn't funny in the least. She knew the Queen of Hearts could handle Axel instantly. His heart was still bound by her dark power. That was how she had planned the story.

"Axel…" She paused, then suddenly threw her arms around him. The startled redhead held her awkwardly… then stiffened as she whispered in his ear. "The Queen of Hearts is watching us. Please, you have to distract her when I look at you, please? Get her talking, please…" Looking into her pleading eyes, Axel couldn't refuse, and didn't want to.

"Sure," He whispered back, and then said louder for everyone's benefit. "You'll be fine." He patted her on the back more naturally, and Amberglas let go, relieved he understood but still afraid. There were so many things that could go wrong.

Amberglas frowned at the Travel Happens, then carefully gathered her skirts in one hand before pulling herself up into the vehicle. Axel offered her a hand, and she took it gratefully. His skin was very warm, and he didn't let go of her hand right away. She met his eyes, and felt a slight shiver.

_Don't be stupid, Amberglas._ She looked away, tucking herself into her seat. _Don't be stupid. Now's not the time and even if it was, he's Axel and the future king. What use would he have for a girl like you? All you do is write stories and keep the house. He'll have servants for that._ She refused to think about the fact that a king might have plenty of uses for a Writer of Destiny. That was just too frightening to consider.

Meanwhile, Axel had noticed that her slender hands were a bit callused from the work and writing she did, but free of any rings. And the ties that held her bun in place were strung with a few seed pearls. That meant something, he knew, but it eluded him for a moment.

_Oh… yeah. The no rings means she's single and the pearls means she's available._ Axel flushed slightly and looked away, glad that she was looking away. It had been a long time since he'd noticed a pretty girl, and the power she held only made her more interesting. Did she already have a boyfriend in that little town? Probably… but perhaps not. The Captain had mentioned her uncle being upset, but not a boyfriend. Still, would a former suit of armor know?

With Sora, Kairi and the Captain in the back, the ship was almost full. It seemed to take its time getting back to that cabin by the beach. When they arrived, the canopy vanished and Amberglas glanced around. It was exactly as she had pictured it… a windswept beach and an ominous little villa, eternally in twilight. Axel jumped out of the vehicle and offered her a hand down, which she accepted. It really was hard getting out of the vehicle in a dress… it seemed like the makers hadn't taken that into account.

_Well, of course they didn't. In Risu's worlds women wear trousers._ Amberglas reminded herself. She knew all about those worlds… more than one… because she had imagined them. _But they must have been there before I wrote about them. Surely._ Holding firmly to that thought… the idea that she could create whole worlds simply by writing about them was madness… she smiled at Axel. Although a small part of her mind wondered if she was being realistic about her powers or denying them.

The door opened just as they walked up to it, and Sora and Kairi gaped as they saw the Queen of Hearts for the first time. The Captain and Amberglas fell back a pace, struggling to control revulsion. They had been aware of the ugliness they would see, but nothing could entirely prepare them.

"Took you long enough. I thought I was going to have to summon you." Beady eyes ran over them then settled on Amberglas. "Finally. Come, I have work for you." She opened the door wide to let them in. "I'll show you to my workroom." Confident in her protections, she turned her back to them and started leading them to the heart room. Sora poked Axel to get his attention, then spoke in his ear.

"I thought you said she was ugly!" Axel gave the brunette a mystified look, then looked after the Queen. She was still the gnarled, troll like woman he had first seen.

"…She is?" He couldn't imagine how Sora was missing that. But Kairi cleared her throat.

"Axel, to us she looks lovely." Sora and Kairi were seeing a slightly older but graceful woman with thick, raven hair and dark purple eyes. She had full red lips and a wicked smile as she glanced back at them.

"The former Nobody, Captain and Writer see my heart. The two of you only see the surface of things." Axel shuddered faintly at that thought, while Amberglas looked down. That one heart could contain such ugliness… "Now, Writer, you know what to do. Write my story." She pointed one finger at the table. There was a pen and paper waiting, even a small stool for her to sit on. Amberglas looked at Axel, and tried to put a plea into her eyes.

"Hey, what story do you want her to write anyway? She might need to know." Axel pointed out reasonably as he tried to distract the Queen. She snorted.

"She already knows. But I suppose I might as well tell you while we wait." Amberglas sat and began to write. The story flowed out of her pen as if it was meant to be. "Once, I had a son. He was quite dear to me. I taught him everything I knew…" She stared away, her violet/black eyes dark and stormy with cold rage. "But he stole from me. He took an artifact I had worked so hard to acquire and fled, using our blood bond to seal me in the house."

"He did not reckon with my determination." Her voice was flat and cold as she related the past. "I tore the heart from my body and put it in a jar…" She gestured to the jars surrounding them. "To sever our blood bond. And it worked. I became a Nobody."

"You did that to yourself voluntarily?" Axel asked, appalled. "Didn't you understand…" He stopped at the Queen's cold, hard smile.

"I thought I understood quite well. I would be emotionless and strong, and able to leave the house to punish him. I wouldn't care that he was my son, I would make him pay." She took a deep breath. "What I didn't understand was how much I wouldn't care. I only wanted him to pay. But my Nobody killed him, and threw his body into the sea. My only son…" Tears sprang up in her eyes and her voice shook. The listeners were torn between horror and pity. Except for Amberglas, who stopped to read over her story.

_The Queen of Hearts thought her son was dead when she threw him into the sea, but he was only dying. His body was eaten by a young Kraken. Kraken devour the mind when they take the body, and only when they take the mind of a man do they become intelligent. So the son became the Kraken. For centuries it lived in the sea, growing larger and stronger as it fed upon whales and fish. Waiting for the day when it would be strong enough to devour the Queen of Hearts and finally take revenge on its mother._

Hand trembling, Amberglas added the final sentence.

_And when the Writer of Destiny finished her story the Queen would snatch up the story and read it, but it would be too late. The Kraken was already there._

"Only the Writer of Destiny can bring him back to me." She snatched up the story and read it… then blanched. "What? NO! You little _bitch!_" Her ringing slap sent Amberglas flying into the shelving, and Axel ran to her side as the Queen of Hearts shouted at the stunned girl. "That's not the story I wanted! Re-write-" But whole building seemed to heave as something unbearably massive slammed into it.

"Run." Amberglas croaked as the others looked around, startled. "Run!" Axel yanked open the door just as the roof of the house tore off with a hideous sound of smashing wood.

_**Mother!**_ The voice was as large as the sea, and a huge tentacle reached in to snatch up the Queen of Hearts. She screamed, the sound trailing off as it lifted her high into the sky. _**It's been so long Mother. How have you been?**_ Then it laughed over her screams, the booming sound of crashing waves.

"What is it?" The Captain yelled over the sound as they struggled out of the wreckage of the house.

"It's the Kraken!" Amberglas screamed as more tentacles coiled over the house as they leapt out. The tentacles tightened, and began dragging the whole building into the sea. "We have to get out! It will devour us! That's what it does!" Axel blew on his whistle, summoning the Travel Happens. They all piled in but Amberglas was too slow, Sora grabbed her arm and pulled her in as Axel boosted her from behind-

And she turned just in time to see a tentacle smack Axel and send him flying. With horror, she saw he was going land against another tentacle-

_But the vehicle was fast and caught him!_ She scribbled so fast that it felt like her hand might sprain, writing on her own gown. The vehicle surged violently, warping through the air to catch Axel before the Kraken could grip him. The vehicle fishtailed violently as the Kraken tried to grab it. Restraints spooled out as Sora fought frantically to control the vehicle and avoid the seeking tentacles of the Kraken.

_**Where are you going little food? I'm still hungry!**_ The vehicle went into a violent roll as another tentacle clipped a wing. Amberglas wanted to just close her eyes, but that wouldn't help.

_The Kraken was strong and powerful but not fast so the vehicle escaped and they all-_

There was a boom and alarms went off as something caught the vehicle and held it. But it surged forward, straining with all it's being to go forward.

_Lived_

There was a howl behind them and a wet, tearing sound. The vehicle suddenly surged forward, jolting them all back.

_Happily_

Another howl as the vehicle spun in a sickening dance.

_Ever_

Another warp, this one much longer than the others, not the way the vehicle was supposed to move between the worlds at all…

_After!_

The final impact wrenched the pen from her hands. Then darkness descended, and she knew no more.

* * *

"I haven't seen this kind of damage outside of actual, military combat. What did you do to it?" Amberglas groaned, lifting a hand to her head as she began to wake up. She glanced around and recognized the surroundings instantly. She had written about it so many times.

_Traverse Town. We're safe._ Riku was there, helping to tend to their injuries as Risu saw to the welfare of the vehicle. Amberglas winced as she looked at it. The beautiful, sports car like lines had been torn and ripped. If it hadn't been made of a future alloy that wasn't entirely real, it would never have survived. As it was, Risu was hard at work with dozens of tools keeping it together.

"It was a big ugly sea monster, okay?" Axel's voice was irritated, and he crossed his arms, glaring at Risu. "How did you bring all those tools with you anyway?" Risu glanced up at him briefly, then back at the machine.

"Demirene class technicians always keep their tools with them in a phase pouch. And you should be glad, without tools this machine would be dissipating into the aether." Risu punched the side of the machine, and a spark of electricity hit Axel, making him yelp and jump back. "Now, if you don't mind, I have work to do." Muttering something unpleasant, Axel shook his head and walked away. The Captain was still unconscious… it looked like he'd hit his head on something… but Sora and Kairi were more or less awake, although Kairi had a deep cut in one arm that would likely need stitches. Axel saw Amberglas was awake, and knelt down beside her.

"Hey… how are you feeling?" He smiled at her and touched her arm reassuringly. "We're safe now."

"Safe…" Amberglas echoed, then smiled back. It was a smile of pure and utter relief. "I feel… like I want to sleep." Suiting words to deeds, she closed her eyes and in a moment, began to doze off. She hardly noticed it when Axel sat beside her and lifted her up into his arms, holding her against his chest.

For now, they were safe.


	17. Amberglas

Amberglas stood on the balcony of her room. Her fingers worried at the grey stone as she stared sightlessly over the castle garden. Overgrown for centuries, the new gardeners were just beginning to get them into shape. The vast part that the Lancers said had once been a vegetable garden had already been tilled and planted, though. After so long with so little, food always took priority over rose-bushes, even at the heart of the castle. The Lancers said everything would be fine now, that there would only be natural plagues and droughts, not disasters every year. But it was hard for the people to accept. To them, dozens of deaths every winter and the summer droughts and plagues were natural. It was hard to imagine a world without them.

Amberglas winced as she realized she was rubbing her fingers raw, and firmly laced her hands together. She was living at the castle now, although she hadn't exactly been asked if she wanted to. She began to tap her foot against the precious, inlaid floor.

She had a beautiful room, more luxurious than anything she could have dreamed of. Actually, it was more of a suite… a lounging room, a tiny little dining nook, a huge four poster bed that felt sinfully luxurious, and a bathroom that was the stuff of dreams. There was a giant soaker tub with magical plumbing that could bring her hot water any time of the day.

And there was nothing at all for her to do.

_I'm not a princess, really I'm not. You don't have to treat me like one._ She stared down at the gardeners forlornly. She had never gardened and really wasn't that interested, but she'd tried to join them after the cooks and maids had refused any help. She had been gently shooed away there too, told it was much below her station to pick weeds. She wished she could have found whoever had come up with that rule. It seemed like everything she had ever done was below her station these days.

Except writing, and that was the greatest tragedy of all. Despite a desk with papers and fine pens, she hadn't written a word in weeks.

How could she, when the stories came true?

_I wish there was someone around who could tell me what princesses do, if I have to act like one._ Amberglas really had no idea, but surely they had to do something besides look pretty. Surely.

But there was no one to ask. Axel was learning about his kingdom and seemed to be enjoying it, from what she had seen of him. But they hadn't exchanged more than a dozen words. She knew he had gone to see the Castle of the South in the vehicle… Risu said it was perfectly capable of travel within a world, and he didn't know why the Queen of Hearts had told them not to… and he had gone to the beach with Sora and Kairi. She had wanted to write about it but had stopped herself.

She hadn't been invited, and hadn't asked them if she could come.

Amberglas closed her eyes for a moment, then walked over to her desk and picked up her needlework. She took it with her onto the balcony and sat on the bench, stitching in the sun.

_Look on the bright side. You have plenty of food and a beautiful place to live. Even if it's a…_Amberglas hesitated before completing the thought. _A prison._

Not literally of course. There were no bars on the windows. But she had overheard the Archmagus of the Lancers talking with the other mages about her and the wards on her room. So, out of curiosity, she had borrowed one of the few surviving books from the ancient library. Most hadn't aged well, but the tomes on magic were the exception. She had spent an entertaining evening finding the wards on and around her room. The tapestries in her room were woven with runes, the rugs made protective patterns, and symbols of pure order were inlaid on the outside of her balcony. Even her bathtub had patterns etched into the corners. Her room was bristling with arcane defenses designed to foil any kidnapper. And when she left her room, a Lancer and a Mage always accompanied her. They were perfectly respectful and solicitous… and never let her leave the castle.

It was for the good of everyone, of course. She was far too dangerous to let fall into evil hands. Amberglas knew that, so she hadn't asked for the things she knew would be denied.

Trying not to think about anything at all, Amberglas applied herself to her embroidery and tried to enjoy the summer sun.

Surely things would get better with time.

Surely.

* * *

A few weeks later

"I wasn't sure I wanted to be a king, but I think I'm totally getting into it." Axel and Sora were sitting on one of the beautiful walkways between towers, looking down over the forest. It was a beautiful view. Everything seemed to be flowering all at once. "It smells right, feels right… even the food tastes right here."

"This is your hearts home, so I guess it makes sense… but Axel?" Sora said, a touch wistfully. "Will you come visit me in Traverse Town?" He and Kairi had only a few more weeks left before lessons began again. Axel grinned and punched him lightly in the shoulder.

"Of course! I still have the Travel Happens, now that Risu got it up and running again. I'll probably have to put that asshole on retainer to keep it repaired, but it will be worth it." Axel didn't think he could ever go back to the repair centre without having the ship seized, but if Risu could nurse it back to health after the Kraken he could probably handle anything.

"Kairi's a little worried about Amberglas," Sora mentioned, and Axel blinked.

"Amberglas? Why? She seems to be doing fine." He vaguely recalled seeing her doing embroidery on her balcony. She had smiled and waved when he called to her… but he couldn't remember seeing her much otherwise. But he had been busy learning about the kingdom and giving it a quick tour.

Learning about the kingdom had been a lot easier than he anticipated, if rather grim. There were no noble families left because being a noble in this world required being able to field at least a half squad of soldiers and no one could do that anymore. The little town Amberglas came from was actually one of the largest settlements left. The Captain had casually pointed out the ruins of cities and mentioned what had destroyed them… usually plagues, but sometimes droughts or civil war. The Lancers claimed the current population was about an eighth of what it had been when his heart was alive. But that had made the task of being king rather simple.

"Oh… well…" Sora frowned. Kairi hadn't been able to articulate her concerns too well, which made it even harder for him to relate them. "She says Amberglas is so quiet you never know what she's thinking, but she doesn't seem happy." Axel frowned at that. He realized he hadn't given much thought to the Writer of Destiny, mostly leaving that up to Captain Graem.

"Maybe I should go see how she's doing, later." He should get to know her better, at least.

* * *

Amberglas sat on the couch in her rooms, and stared at a tapestry sightlessly. Time had not made things better. Time had made them worse.

Mathira hadn't come by to see her. That wasn't really a surprise… her mother ruled the household with an iron fist and had a superstitious dread of the Lancers. Mathira had likely been forbidden to go see her. Celune had come by to see her, and Amberglas had been glad despite the sneaking suspicion that it was mostly due to her new "status" as a Writer of Destiny. She would have accepted the friendship anyway… but the seminary was in the town, so Celune had to go back. And going to the castle was an all day trip. That really was asking a lot of any friend. Frossan had come to visit her too, and they'd had a fun day together. She had been relieved to find out the kingdom was paying him enough to employ a housekeeper, in return for keeping her here. She wondered who had arranged that… probably Captain Graem. Despite being a suit of armor for centuries, he seemed to understand the realities of life very well. Axel, she was sure, wouldn't think of it.

She had tried to make friends with the Lancers and Mages guarding her, but they changed so frequently it was hard, especially since she wasn't a naturally outgoing person. Despite that, she had put in the effort and had memorized several names and faces. Everyone was friendly and kind. But…

_Who would marry me now?_ She wondered. _A Writer of Destiny who can't leave the castle? And I so wanted to get married._ Once she had discarded her childhood dreams, marriage had become her new dream. She had seen beautiful marriages in the town, blessed with living children, and had wanted that for herself. It was the natural lot of girls anyway, unless they became priestesses. _Maybe I could be a priestess…_ But that thought only led to a listless depression. Amberglas knew she lacked the talent for priestess magic as surely as she lacked it for magecraft. And while battle priestesses were around now, that wouldn't make her good with weapons. And even if they could teach her, what good would it do if she couldn't leave the castle?

Amberglas found herself walking over to her table, with its unused pens and papers, and knew what she needed to do. Taking a deep breath, she picked up a beautiful golden pen and began to write.

_After several weeks, the Writer of Destiny realized that everyone would be safer without her power in the world. So she picked up a pen and wrote her own fate… to fall asleep and never wake up. Everyone would be sad for a while, but they wouldn't blame themselves and…_

Amberglas had to pause a moment, closing her eyes to compose herself.

…_they would all live happily ever after._

Setting down her pen, she walked towards the bedroom. She wasn't tired, but she did want to get it over with. The knock on her door came as an unwelcome surprise. Frowning, she went to open the door. She was even more surprised to find the King at her door.

"Hey there." Amberglas blushed self-consciously as Axel grinned at her. "Can I come in?" Unable to find any gracious way to refuse, Amberglas stepped back with a stiff smile.

Axel, meanwhile, was noticing again how beautiful she was. Amberglas was wearing a dark gold gown now, with dark green embroidery. The simple ties in her hair had been replaced with gold chains, still strung with seed pearls. But she seemed stiff and tense. Axel sighed to himself… he'd found his new subjects had a very hard time relaxing around him. They hadn't had a King in generations and had forgotten how to act around them. So they mostly treated him with awe… it made it hard to get close to them. Fortunately, the Lancers saw things completely differently. They had served a king all their lives and had known his heart as Prince Dalgrae, so they had easily slipped back into that relationship with him.

"So how are you doing?" Axel asked with a smile. Amberglas looked down at her feet for a moment.

"I'm doing fine. Would you like some tea?" There was a magical brazier that one of the mages had given her… it kept water piping hot. "I'm sorry, I don't have any coffee ready." Amberglas wasn't fond of coffee at all. It was a Southern drink, so until recently she'd never tried it.

"Nah, I'm good. So what are you writing about?" Amberglas started forward with a soft cry as he picked up the sheet. Axel's smile vanished as he read the short paragraph, then re-read it. Amberglas avoided his eyes as he looked up at her. "Why would you write this?" He asked her softly, and she turned away, looking at one of the tapestries. If she looked closely she could still see the rune in it.

"It's better for everyone." She said firmly. "I'll be... fine… and I won't be a danger to the kingdom anymore."

"Dead isn't fine!" She started as he grabbed her shoulders, and turned her to look at him. Unwillingly, she met his eyes and could see the concern there. Amberglas bit her lip, trying to maintain control. Care and concern could undo it… "Are you done already?" She jerked away from him angrily.

"I was done as soon as you came to my door!" Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Amberglas met his eyes again. Her own were getting misty with held in tears. "I can't write anymore. I can't cook or clean or anything I know. All I can do is sit in this prison and wait to die!" Sniffing, she wiped her cheeks quickly. Axel was staring at her like he'd never seen her before.

"It's not a prison. We're just…" Axel trailed off, realizing that a gilded cage was still a cage.

"I know." Amberglas said with a bleak resignation that made him wince. "You're just keeping me safe. So people like Maleficent can't steal and use me. I really do understand. That makes it worse." She rubbed her eyes with one hand, holding back the tears. "If you wanted to use me or hurt me I could… could try to climb the ivy off the banister, or kick the Lancer on guard or… anything… but you're not trying to hurt me. You only want the best for everyone. Well, this would be best." She raised her chin. "And you can't stop me." She knew that the story would only change if she changed it. Axel could burn her paper, but it would mean nothing unless she burnt it or wrote out a change to the story.

"No!" Axel hugged her tight to his chest, and Amberglas went stiff for a moment before sniffing and burying her face in his shoulder. "Look, I'll make things different for you, I swear… you'll be able to come with me. If a dozen Lancers and I can't keep you safe, the Kingdom is in deep shit anyway. We can… set up a studio or something. Get you lessons in all kinds of things. Please, Amberglas, don't go so soon." Softly. "I don't even know you yet." And he really did want to get to know her. Amberglas was silent for a long moment.

"…You promise?" She said in a small, fragile voice. Axel kissed the top of her head, the soft titian hair.

"I promise." Silently, Amberglas pulled away and walked to the table, picking up paper lying there. She carefully folded it, then looked around for a fire… and Axel held out his hand to her, filled with his fire. She stared at him a moment, then laid the story in his hand and it burst into flames. A moment later, there was only drifting ash.

"Axel?" Amberglas stepped forward, a strange expression on her face. Then she threw her arms around his neck, and their lips met.

_Tear soaked eyes make sweet lips,_ Axel thought, and vaguely remembered it was a quote from an ancient poem. But most of him was concentrating on the beautiful, desirable woman who was kissing him. Her lips were pliant, alive, and it had been so long… _Oh this is a bad idea._ But the rest of him wasn't listening.

It was a long night.


	18. Fin

It was a beautiful morning in the North. Songbirds were chirruping in the trees, staking our their territory and trying to attract mates.

"Captain?" Axel was riding with Captain Graem, as well as High Priestess Zathira and Archmage Talyt. Axel was finding he enjoyed riding and took a ride every morning. It was also a good time to go over things with his chief subordinates, all of whom also enjoyed riding. "Could I ask you something a touch, ah, sensitive?" He glanced over the other two meaningfully.

They all looked far too young for their exalted roles. Zathira was on the sunny side of thirty, and Talyt was even younger, barely twenty-five. Zathira was short, solidly built, and her sandy blond hair had been cropped close in a battle priestess cut. Her devotion to the church of light and dark was almost frightening. Talyt was almost her perfect opposite… tall, weedy, bald as an egg and blessed with a wonderful sense of humor, he was a pleasure to work with. The styles they used to manage their subordinates were completely different, but equally effective as far as Axel could see.

"If that's a hint that we shouldn't discuss it, my lord, I can assure you that we wouldn't dream of it." Talyt said with a completely straight face but a twinkle in his eye.

"Gossip taints the soul." Zathira said primly. Talyt grinned, his teeth startlingly white against dark brown skin.

"Then I am surely doomed." Captain Graem cleared his throat, silencing the possible debate.

"What do you want to ask, my lord?"

"How, um…" Axel hesitated, trying to think how to phrase it, and then sighed. "How do you go about courting a girl here these days?" Talyt grinned again and Zathira sniffed, but Graem treated the question with utmost gravity.

"The simplest way is to give her gifts. Expensive ones are best. I assume you mean Amberglas?" Axel flushed but nodded, and the Captain's tone turned thoughtful. "She's a townsman's daughter, and they weren't very well off. You don't want to overwhelm her. I would recommend… hm. A hand mirror would be good." Axel blinked at that.

"A mirror? Really?" When the Captain had said expensive gifts, he'd immediately thought of the castle treasure room… it had been sealed up along with the rest of the castle, so all the kingdom's wealth from that time was intact. There was a full set of Queen's jewels there.

"Yes… flawless mirrors are rare and expensive these days. I'm sure she's never owned one of her own." Graem said with assurance. He'd kept himself fully up to date on everything that was happening in the kingdom, including how the people led their lives. "It would be equivalent to the gift a Mayor of the town would give to his beloved… very rich, but not absurdly so. I think there's an ivory mirror in the treasure room, as well. That would be perfect."

"And for other things, a scarf would be good." Talyt jumped in as Zathira looked vaguely disgusted. "Silk stockings from the South, she'll have never seen those at all. Maybe some of that lovely face cream the priestesses brew up. Girls love that stuff."

"Ergh!" Zathira finally couldn't contain herself, and snorted. "Girls these days… they seem to want nothing else but to get married." Axel suddenly grinned as her tone reminded him of a memory from his heart.

"You sound like grandma." Talyt burst into laughter at that, and Zathira flushed, realizing that she HAD sounded like the old dowager Queen for a moment. Graem grinned, but then spoke seriously.

"She's right, though. All the years of still births and children lost too young to diseases and famines have ensured there are only two proper paths for women now… getting married or joining the priesthood. Even lady mages and artisans are expected to marry. It's not like it was, back in our day." He ran a hand through his short blonde hair, then shrugged. "But hopefully, time will begin to heal the wound. And the example of our own stalwart priestesses and magesses."

"Suck up." But Zathira smiled at him before shaking her head. "It will take generations to undo the damage."

"We'll see." Axel privately thought she was being too pessimistic, but only time would tell. For now, though, he had a direction to go with Amberglas. His experience with women as a Nobody had mostly involved the kind of girls you 'romanced' for a half hour at the pub. Amberglas might go to a pub, but she was clearly not that kind of girl. He was finding he was really enjoying being around her. She had a dry, understated sense of humor and a quiet, gentle personality that he found very attractive.

_Opposites attract._ Axel smiled at the thought. It really was true… Amberglas was his opposite in a lot of ways. But they complimented each other. He only hoped it worked out.

* * *

Three months later.

Amberglas smiled as she used her bathroom mirror and the hand mirror Axel had given her to examine the back of her head. She'd never been able to really look at her bun before, and had done it by feel for a very long time, counting on her friends or Frossan to tuck in the occasional loose strand.

She was happy now… so happy that it seemed almost inconceivable that she had once tried to write herself out of the story. She smiled ruefully at that thought. It was probably partly due to her age… she was still very young, and young adults and teenagers were more prone to extreme thinking.

She set down the mirror, and lifted another of Axel's gifts carefully out of its box. A fine necklace of light grey pearls, they matched her eyes almost perfectly. Amberglas smiled in pleasure at how good they looked with her dark blue dress. She didn't like to think of herself as vain, but there was still a great pleasure in feeling pretty.

Stepping out of the bathroom, she made herself a cup of tea and reflected on how much better her life was. Axel had kept his promise, and had actually started taking her everywhere he went. She had been fascinated with the South and had quickly discovered a love of traveling and exploring. It had been wonderful to actually see a beach and swim in the sea.

Then there were the lessons. She was learning ballroom dancing, drawing and riding. She was still only a novice rider, but she was getting better and hoped she would be able to ride with Axel soon. Her horse was a sweet old plug, and she loved feeding him carrots and grooming him.

And best of all, one of the Mages had diffidently suggested that if she couldn't write, perhaps she should try poetry. Amberglas suspected her poetry was awful, but it was still a way to be creative and surely poetry was entirely harmless. Surely.

But there was still a problem, and Amberglas frowned as she thought of it. Still, it was a problem she at least knew how to deal with. Women had been dealing with it since the dawn of time. She just wasn't sure how to broach the subject with Axel. "A bad moon time" was the conventional euphemism, but that was cryptic enough that she was sure he would understand.

_Just be direct, Amberglas,_ she told herself, adjusting her necklace one last time._ It might not be the right way to do it, but you're already done everything backwards._ She smiled a touch sadly at the thought. Her mother had had the same problem, she had been told.

"Hey Amberglas!" Axel knocked on the door, then entered. He was wearing a brand new leather jacket and jeans, and it made her smile. She knew the young men in the towns were already copying the new fashions. He paused to admire her. "You look lovely." She blushed lightly and smiled.

"Thank you Axel, you look wonderful too. Would you like some coffee?" She was keeping it brewed for him these days.

"I'd love it. What have you been writing?" Axel picked up a page from her desk and began to read as she fixed him some coffee. He frowned slightly. "This is… pretty sad." It was a poem that asked why, when the dream was finally reality, the dreamers were all gone. It was hard for him to make sense of, but there seemed a terrible sadness to it. Amberglas brought over the cup of coffee and glanced at the sheet he was holding.

"Oh… that's about Risu's world. It's really a terrible place, you know. So beautiful and so soulless." She shook her head. "I imagined it as sort of… the opposite of this world. We had nothing at all, not enough food or shelter, but we managed to cling to our families and love despite it. In Risu's world they have everything they could want, food and toys and games… but no imagination and no real love. Everything is superficial for them." Amberglas smiled sheepishly. "If I weren't the Writer of Destiny, I would write more stories about them… but they would all be sad stories."

"Maybe you should write about it, and make it a better place." Axel offered, but Amberglas just shook her head. Now that she knew the truth, she couldn't bear meddling in people's lives that way.

"Axel, there's something I need to ask you." She hesitated a moment, looking down. "Do you want to marry me?" Axel almost choked on his coffee. That had been the last question he'd been expecting.

"Uh… yes, but it's rather soon." They had only been courting for three months. Amberglas looked up at him with a twinkle in her eye and an amused smile.

"Well, if we're going to we'll have to do it within five months," she said with mock seriousness. "Or it won't look very good when our daughter is born." Axel had to put down the coffee.

"You're… pregnant? But it was just once!" He protested, stunned. Amberglas had to suppress the urge to giggle.

"Teenage boys have been saying that since the dawn of time," she pointed out with gentle humor… then her tone turned wistful. "You do want to marry me?" If he didn't… she wasn't sure what she would do. If he had been a boy from the town, she would have either surrendered the child to the Priestesses when it was weaned, or gone to the courthouse for a childbond on the father. Either one would have caused her great shame, but surrendering the child was what to do when the father absolutely couldn't support them. Neither one of the options really made sense for a King though. According to the Southern histories, kings often had concubines and children out of wedlock, but Amberglas couldn't accept that kind of life for herself. She had been raised to do the right thing.

Axel's arms around her startled her out of her musings, and she looked up into his green eyes. They were filled with too many emotions for her to read, but she thought one of them was joy.

"Of course I want to marry you." He kissed her, deeply, and Amberglas responded enthusiastically. "Mmm… it might be soon, but I'm sure you're the girl for me." She slid her arms around him, and hugged him tightly.

"And you're the man for me." She murmured softly, and they held each other for a moment.

"So what will we name her?" Axel asked thoughtfully, and Amberglas smiled.

"I thought we would name her Kaelglas." Axel blinked at that. Amberglas knew that was the name of his hearts' lost love, and while being jealous of a dead woman wasn't something Amberglas would do, naming her future child after her was still a bit surprising.

"You're sure?" He didn't object at all… Kaelglas' sacrifice had kept the Kingdom alive for hundreds of years, and she deserved a tribute. And it was a very pretty name.

"I'm sure." Amberglas smiled, glancing at her table. She knew it would take a while for Axel to figure it out, but someday he would look into the eyes of his blond haired, blue eyed daughter and see a familiar spirit looking out at him.

And at last, the cycle would be complete.

* * *

…_And so we have reached the end of our story. I hope you have enjoyed it._

_Who am I, you might ask? I will tell you. I, too, am a Writer of Destiny. And I have written Amberglas' story. Does this mean that there are other writers writing my story as I write this story? Perhaps, but I would not examine that thought too closely. Disturbing, isn't it?_

_Now, if you'll excuse me, I need some tea and a sandwich before I begin my next story._

_There are so many stories to be written._

_~Fin~_


End file.
